And Every Day Since
by JellyBeanDiva
Summary: When someone from Calleigh's past turns up in Miami, Eric discovers how he feels about Calleigh.
1. It Could Be You

"Hey Alexx." Calleigh said as she walked onto the crime scene. Calleigh was never happy about seeing Alexx at the scene, but she was glad to see her friend all the same.

"Hi honey." Alexx greeted, looking up from the victim.

As Calleigh came closer and Alexx turned to look at her, Calleigh got a better look at the victim. What she saw caused her to pause and take a deep breath. While the scene was especially gruesome and bloody, it with the long blonde hair matted down with blood and green eyes staring up at her that caused her breath to catch.

"I know. Poor baby didn't seem to stand a chance." Alexx said, turning her attention back to the victim.

"Do you have a cause of death?" Calleigh asked.

"Gun shot wound to the head. Poor thing was beaten too. I suppose if the gunshot hadn't killed her, the rest would have."

"Thanks, Alexx. I'm going to go find Ryan." Calleigh smiled at Alexx as she turned to look for Ryan.

Calleigh didn't have to look far. Ryan quickly walked up right behind Calleigh and after seeing the victim let out a long whistle.

"Wow. That could be you." Ryan said shaking his head.

"Ryan! Please don't compare me to the corpse." Calleigh said as she rolled her eyes. Finally, she tugged on Ryan's arm, forcing him to turn away from Alexx and the victim. "Come on. Let's get to work."

Ryan and Calleigh worked tirelessly at the crime scene. In the end, their victim, Jessica McKenna, had been brutally and repeatedly beaten with a pipe and other items before she was shot twice in the head. The crime scene, Bayside Manors, had been strewn with everything imaginable, including blood. At least, Calleigh thought, there wouldn't be a lack of evidence. Ryan had found fingerprints everywhere and Calleigh had collected casings and blood from both the victim and who she assumed was the suspect.

As they left the crime scene to head back to the lab, Calleigh couldn't help but shudder at the scene that she had witnessed. The small, out of place motion didn't go unnoticed by Ryan.

"You okay?" He asked, cocking his head questioningly.

"Yeah." Calleigh paused, her hand poised on the door of the Hummer. "It was all so horrific. There was so much blood. You could barely recognize the poor girl. Who would do such a thing?"

Calleigh's sudden personal connection and reaction to the case puzzled Ryan.

"It's not so much worse than other cases we've worked. What's got you so upset about this one?" Ryan inquired. The emotional side of Calleigh was one that he wasn't used to seeing.

"Nothing. Let's get going." Calleigh said, brushing off Ryan's concern.


	2. Tension All Around

Calleigh hadn't said much on the ride back to the lab, and Ryan hadn't pushed her. To be honest, Ryan still wasn't comfortable with Calleigh's standoffish mood swings. When it came to Calleigh's demeanor, he still felt like he was a rookie.

Ryan and Calleigh were still together and walking silently as they got off the elevator and headed towards trace. Ryan almost seemed relieved to see Eric walking towards them. Even though he knew Eric despised him, Ryan sensed that maybe Eric could break the silence and tension he could feel coming from Calleigh.

"Hey guys." Eric greeted with a nod of his head.

Ryan couldn't help but notice that something was askew with Eric and Calleigh's friendship lately. It wasn't that he could say something was wrong or that they had had a fight, but there was a certain coldness between the two.

Calleigh looked up and smiled at Eric. Ryan felt he needed to reply.

"Hey, man." Ryan said.

"You guys just getting in?" Eric asked casually falling into step with his two coworkers.

"Yeah. Messy crime scene. We've got a lot of stuff to process." Ryan volunteered. He couldn't help but notice that Calleigh had remained quiet the entire time on their way to the break room.

As all three walked into the break room, Eric was the first to notice a large vase of Irises in the table. He walked over and carefully extracted the card from the vase, fingering the edges as he read the writing.

"Hey, Calleigh…who's your new boyfriend?" Eric called out playfully across the break room. Calleigh turned around, her eyebrows folding together questioningly.

"I don't have one. Why?"

Calleigh walked over to the flowers and took the card from Eric's hand. She read it aloud.

"For Calleigh, with love." Calleigh's southern accent rang out in the break room. Calleigh wrinkled her nose up as she read in obvious confusion.

"Well, it sounds like something a boyfriend does for a girlfriend to me." Eric said playfully.

Calleigh shot Eric a look of utter disgust and loathing, her entire body tensing up as she turned to say something else. Calleigh didn't get a chance to, her phone ringing and breaking her thoughts.

"Dusquense." Ryan and Eric heard as she answered her phone.

Calleigh's face softened as she listened to the voice on the other side. Her voice became softer and she turned away from her two friends.

"Sure. No problem. No, no, don't worry about it. I can't….I really can't. I'm at work right now." Calleigh's voice sounded sweet. She paused, listened again and sighed, a slight smile spreading over her lips. "Oh, stop. Alright, I'll come over. I'll be there soon."

Calleigh flipped her phone shut and turned around to face Eric and Ryan. Ryan had pretended to be flipping through a magazine while Calleigh was on the phone, but Eric had been blatantly listening to her side of the conversation.

Calleigh looked at Ryan. "Hey, Ryan, I need to go. I'll be back in about 45 minutes. Can you handle things without me for a little while?"

"Sure." Ryan said. "Not a problem. I'll be in the layout room when you get back."

Ryan walked out of the room, leaving Eric and Calleigh alone. Eric was grinning at Calleigh as she gathered her things and got ready to leave.

"What's H going to say about you leaving to go see a guy?" Eric asked in a knowing way.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Calleigh stated. Eric didn't see it, but as he finished his question, Calleigh back tensed up and she closed her eyes momentarily, exhaling as she started talking.

"Whatever. I heard the phone call. Flowers and now this. This isn't like you Calleigh."

"Eric. I've already told you that you don't know what you're talking about." Calleigh snapped back at Eric. She looked at him, and Eric felt that if looked could kill he'd be down with Alexx in the morgue.

"Save it, Calleigh. Whatever." Eric stalked out of the break room and Calleigh walked out behind him, heading out of the building.


	3. DNA to Die For

True to her word, Calleigh was back at work in 45 minutes. She walked into the building and headed straight to the layout room to find Ryan. As she walked by the break room, she considered finding Eric and apologizing for snapping at him earlier. But in the end, Calleigh decided that it would have to wait. She had already wasted enough time, and she and Ryan had work to do.

Ryan was in the layout room, photos and physical evidence spread out all around him. Calleigh walked in and took in the massive amount of evidence they had collected.

"What have you got so far?" Calleigh asked, striding up to Ryan.

"Everything imaginable." Ryan concluded. "I've already sent hair and blood off to DNA and the fingerprints are being run as we speak. You want to take the casings to ballistics and I'll page you when the results are in?"

"Sounds good to me." Calleigh chirped. The idea of work in the ballistics lab cheering her up.

Calleigh took the ballistics evidence from Ryan and headed for her lab.

Later when Ryan paged her, Calleigh had already ascertained the type of gun used and tied the markings on the spent bullets to murders from two other states. She was almost giddy as she walked to trace to meet Ryan and give him her results.

"Cal. We've got a match." Ryan said as she entered the lab.

"Good, because I've got the gun and two previous murders. Our suspect had quite the past. I've ordered up the other case files. Maybe we can figure out his M.O." Calleigh said. Ryan couldn't help but notice that the personality he was used to seeing and hearing had returned to Calleigh along with the evidence.

"Well," Valera began. "The hair, blood and fingerprints at the scene came from two people. One set is from your victim, Jessica McKenna. The other I was able to run through CODIS and match to Brian McMartin."

At the mention of the suspect's name, Calleigh's head whipped around to look at Valera. She took a step back and wrapped her arms protectively around her body.

"You need to find him." Calleigh said to Ryan.

"Yeah, well that's usually the general idea Cal." Ryan said back. Ryan chuckled softly to himself and turned to look at Calleigh. "Hey, you walked in here all bouncy. Did you get anything off the casings?"

"I'm sorry?" Calleigh hadn't been listening to Ryan at all.

"Ballistics, Calleigh. What did you find?" Ryan tried again.

"Oh. Here's the report." Calleigh shoved the file containing her ballistics report into Ryan's hands.

"Uh, thanks." Ryan said. Suddenly, Ryan noticed how pale Calleigh looked. Her arms were still wrapped around her body and one of her hands was rubbing her arm unconsciously. Ryan reached out to touch Calleigh's arm and she jumped away when she felt the contact.

"Hey, Calleigh?" Ryan asked tentatively. "Calleigh, are you okay? Calleigh?"

"What?" Calleigh said, not really in response to Ryan's question but as a way of reconnecting and snapping out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Ryan, I need to talk to Horatio. I'll catch up with you later."

Without waiting for Ryan's reply, Calleigh turned and walked out of the trace lab. Ryan turned to Valera, looking confused.

"Is it just me, or was she acting weird?" Ryan asked. Valera cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows, answering Ryan's question with a questioning look.


	4. Swapping

Eric walked into Horatio's office, knocking softly on the door frame as he entered. Eric couldn't imagine what Horatio wanted. But he could only imagine that when Horatio called him in off of a case, it must be important.

As Eric knocked, Horatio looked up from the paperwork on his desk.

"Eric." Horatio said flatly.

"Hey, H. What's up?"

"Eric, I need you to work the Bayside murder case with Ryan."

Eric looked puzzled for a minute while he digested Horatio's request.

"I don't get it, H. Isn't Calleigh on that case with Ryan?"

"Eric." Horatio's tone was warning Eric not to ask too many questions. "Calleigh has removed herself from the case. The night shift will finish up your open case. Ryan needs your help."

Eric was perplexed. It wasn't like Calleigh to remove herself from a case. Calleigh was a workaholic. Usually you had to drag her _away_ from work. But, the look on Horatio's face and the tone of his voice told Eric not to pursue this.

"Sure, H. No problem."

Eric turned around and left Horatio's office. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Calleigh around the lab today. She hadn't pulled a double, so it wasn't like she had the day off. Eric was about to call her, when he ran into Ryan.

"Hey man, I hear we're working together now." Ryan said as he jogged up beside Eric in the hallway. "Here's the latest report from trace. It matches the DNA we found two days ago. This guy's got a past. We should be getting his other case files and records in today."

"Thanks." Eric said unenthusiastically. As Ryan turned to leave Eric with the case material, Eric spoke up. "Hey! Do you know why Calleigh pulled herself off the case?"

"No. In fact I haven't seen or heard from her since yesterday. The last time I saw her was in trace when we ran the suspects DNA through AFIS. The next thing I know, Horatio is telling me you're my new partner."

"Thanks, man." Eric said.

Eric spent the next few hours with Ryan in the layout room going over the evidence.

"Gentlemen." Horatio said, walking into the layout room. "How are we doing?"

"Good." Ryan said.

Eric continued to stare at the layout of evidence. Connecting this case to past evidence was proving more difficult than he had imagined.

"It would help if we had the evidence from the other case files. That'd really tie it all together. Might show a pattern." Eric said, speaking up but still not lifting his eyes to meet Horatio's.

As if on cue, an officer opened the door to the layout room, envelope in hand.

"Excuse me. Lt. Caine? This was just delivered for your lab." The officer said.

Horatio thanked the officer and turned to Eric and Ryan holding the envelope.

"Well, gentlemen, it seems your case evidence has arrived." Horatio said.

"Well?" Eric asked impatiently. "What's in the pictures. Let me see."

Eric moved to take the pictures out of the envelope and Horatio's possession, but Horatio moved back to prevent him. One look at Horatio's face and Eric knew something was going on. There was something in those pictures that Horatio didn't want Eric to see.

"Eric. I think it might be better for you to step out of the room." Horatio warned.

Eric looked at Horatio, and smiled in a humored disbelief.

"Come on, H. Let's just see the evidence." Eric said. As he pushed past Horatio's hand to grab to envelope, Horatio stumbled back and looked down to the floor.

Eric pulled a case report out of the envelope and hastily threw it at Ryan. What Eric pulled out next, caused him to go weak in the knees. For a moment, an intense silence hung in the air. Horatio remained silent, but reached his hand out towards Eric. Eric's eyes widened, then narrowed, trying to fully comprehend what he was seeing.

"Horatio?" Eric's mouth suddenly seemed dry and he had trouble getting Horatio's name out.

The tone of Eric's voice got Ryan's attention. Ryan turned to Eric and took one of the pictures out of his paralyzed hands.

"What the hell is this?" The shock seemed to be fading out of Eric's voice and was being replaced by anger. Eric's question had been directed to Horatio, but Ryan answered first.

"Oh my god. That's Calleigh." Ryan quickly dropped the photo on the layout table and turned away from it.

Rage and anger had suddenly taken over Eric's body. He swung his body around and punched the wall behind him. His yells faded as he cradled his hand, wiping off the dripping blood.

Horatio bent down to pick up the pictures Eric had dropped. He proceeded to lay them next to the others on the layout table. In the pictures was a younger version of Calleigh. Her eyes and hair made it easy to recognize her. However, the Calleigh in the pictures was not the Calleigh that Eric was used to seeing. These pictures of Calleigh showed her beaten, bloodied, eyes bruised and swollen shut, hair matted with blood, and with cuts spanning her perfect skin.

"And you knew about this?" Eric spat at Horatio. He was deathly close to crossing a line with Horatio, but right now he didn't care. Looking at those photos made Eric feel sick. He knew he needed to leave. He needed to leave the layout room and the lab.

"Eric." Horatio warned. "This had nothing to do with you. It is why she removed herself from the case."

"Like hell it has nothing to do with me, H. This guy…he…" Eric couldn't finish.

"You only have 2 hours until your shift is over. Go home. But come back tomorrow ready to work." Horatio stated. Showing that he meant business and was less than happy with Eric's outburst, Horatio turned to Ryan and began reviewing all the evidence.

Eric stalked out of the lab.


	5. The First Lie

Horatio had given Calleigh the day off and she had spent most of it cleaning her apartment, shopping and catching up on some reading. Currently she was relaxing on her couch, debating whether or not to take a nap. Calleigh was shaken out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cell phone. The ringing annoyed her. She had desperately wanted to be left alone for a peaceful night to herself. For a moment, Calleigh contemplated ignoring the incessant ringing and letting whoever was bothering her leave a message. But, then, Calleigh thought it could be her father, or Horatio calling with an emergency. With a sigh, Calleigh picked up her phone.

"Duquesne." Calleigh said professionally into the phone.

"Hey Calleigh, it's me." _Me_ didn't even have to say his name. Calleigh knew it was Eric from the first syllable her uttered.

Calleigh sighed again. She knew why Eric was calling and he was the last person she wanted to talk to today.

"Hi, Eric."

"Hey. I was thinking that I could bring over dinner." Eric sounded hopeful. He was looking for any opening he could find.

"Uh, thanks Eric. But I'm really not hungry right now." Calleigh felt better knowing that was the truth. She wasn't hungry. But, she really didn't want to have to talk to Eric right now.

"Come on, Calleigh." Eric's pleading sounded almost desperate. "It's already warm and it's my mom's cooking. She brought me enough food to feed a small third world country. It's just dinner. We'll eat and I'll be in and out."

Calleigh sighed. She hadn't talked to anyone at the lab today, but she assumed that Eric knew something. Calleigh just didn't want him around. Her mind was reeling with ways to get him to drop the idea of dinner.

"That's really nice of you, Eric, but I'm not even home right now." Calleigh forced a more chirper tone into her voice, hoping Eric would believe it and leave her alone.

There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Then Calleigh heard Eric exhale with what sounded like sadness, or what she imagined sadness would sound like if you could hear it.

"You know," Eric started. His voice was serious and filled with disappointment. "You know, this is the first time you've ever lied to me, Calleigh."

"What are you talking about? I simply said that I'm not hungry and that I'm out…" Calleigh attempted to sound nonchalant.

"Damnit, Calleigh!" Eric cut her off, saying it louder and more forcefully than he had intended. His voice was an overwhelming mix of anger, frustration and concern. "I'm standing on your doorstep."

When Eric's voice came barreling through the phone, Calleigh flinched and jumped back from the door, her phone falling temporarily next to her body in her limp hand. She reminded herself that Eric would never hurt her and then the enormity of what Eric had said set it. Calleigh felt something drop inside of her. He was right, she had lied. At it was worse that she had been caught. Calleigh sighed and walked over to the door, unlocking the latch and opening it to the sight of Eric standing on her doorstep.

Eric had immediately regretted losing his temper. He heard Calleigh go silent on the other end of the line and almost panicked.

"Come on, Cal. Please. Let's just have some dinner." Eric pleaded with Calleigh. A wave of relief washed of him when he heard the deadbolt on Calleigh's door turning.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"Hey." Eric said. Eric breezed past Calleigh and walked into her kitchen.

As Calleigh shut the door, she could her Eric rummaging around in her cupboards looking for plates and silverware. She heaved a sigh, closed the door and walked towards the kitchen.

Eric was attempting to seem as casual as possible. He knew that he had overcome the first hurdle of the night. He had gotten inside Calleigh's apartment. Before he knew it, he had set the table and laid out the food. Eric noticed that Calleigh hadn't come any closer to him than as close as they had been at the door. He looked up at her and flashed his smile at her, indicating that everything was ready.

Looking at Calleigh, Eric realized that he had never seen her looking so "girly". She had on white Capri pants and a deep pink tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and a white ribbon tied it all up on the back of her head. It was all just so _not_ Calleigh.

"Let's take it outside." Calleigh said simply. She didn't wait for Eric to reply or even react as she grabbed two beers and a bag full of food and walked through her living room and out onto her deck.

Eric had no choice but to follow Calleigh out to the deck. When he got outside, he sat down next to Calleigh at the table. Calleigh had already set out her things, and she was obviously waiting for Eric to set out the plates.

Eric couldn't help but notice that Calleigh seemed bothered by his presence. He knew that their friendship had been rocky lately, but he never expected that Calleigh would ever feel put out by his presence. Eric laid out the plates and silverware and drank from his beer while Calleigh scooped food out of Tupperware onto their plates. It didn't escape Eric's attention that Calleigh had yet to look him in the eyes, or look at him at all.

"I'm hungry." Calleigh said quietly, lifting her first forkful of food closer to her mouth. "Your mother's cooking always hits the spot."

"Funny. Just minutes ago you weren't even going to let me through the door." The minute Eric spoke, he realized that his words had come out more sarcastic and biting than he had intended. He had wanted to lighten the mood. But the way that Calleigh kept her eyes focused on her food, Eric assumed he hadn't done a very good job.

After a few more minutes of eating in silence, Eric realized that Calleigh intended to stay silent through the meal. He realized it was going to be his place to break the ice.

Eric opened his mouth to speak. He looked up and noticed that Calleigh was staring straight at him.

"I was thinking about getting a dog." Calleigh said, beating Eric to the punch.

"Huh?" Eric asked dumbfounded.

"I was thinking about getting a dog." Calleigh restated. "But then I started thinking about how selfish that made me."

Calleigh looked down and took another forkful of food, giving Eric time to think and jump in the conversation.

"How does that make you selfish? You're the least selfish person I know."

"I work long hours. I'd hardly ever be around on a regular basis to play with a dog or take him out. Plus, why should I force a dog to come and live in my home and live by my time schedule just because I want something furry to pet? It seems selfish when I think about it." Calleigh explained.

"Oh. Okay." Eric said, almost brushing it off. Calleigh's comment seemed strange to him. But it also seemed like a thing that Calleigh would have thought out and come up with.

As soon as Calleigh finished talking about the dog, she fell silent again. Calleigh didn't really want talk about why Eric was there. She knew he wanted to talk. Eric always wanted to talk. Calleigh could look at Eric and see that look on his face. Eric would never be able to play poker. All his emotions and thoughts played across his face, Calleigh had always been able to read Eric like an open book.

As Calleigh heard Eric sigh and put his fork down, she knew what was about to happen.

"Cal. The suspect's case files for the Bayside murder came in today. I saw the pictures." Eric said the last part quietly. He was unsure about how Calleigh would react. He hated bringing up the subject in the middle of dinner, but he was afraid that when they were finished eating, Calleigh would throw him out before he had a chance to talk.

"What did you do to your hand?" Calleigh asked, staring at Eric's knuckles. They were badly bruised and still oozing slightly.

Eric flexed his hand gently and hid it under the table. He looked up to see a pair of green eyes staring back at him. Eric knew that Calleigh had already figured out the answer to her own question, but he owed her an explanation.

"I hit the wall in the layout room." Eric answered. He half expected a witty remark from Calleigh, but instead he got her serious side.

"It looks bad. You should get it checked out. Why did you do it?"

"I got it checked out. Then Horatio kicked me out of the lab and told me to go home." Eric admitted sheepishly.

"Eric. You shouldn't let things get so out of hand with Horatio." Calleigh scolded.

Eric felt incensed by Calleigh's words.

"I was upset by the pictures I saw. I got mad. I punched the wall. Things didn't get out of hand." Eric realized he had raised his voice, but he didn't care. The anger he had felt in the lab began flooding back.

Calleigh could sense Eric's anger. The fact that he had punched a wall, the way he raised his voice outside her door tonight – it all scared her a bit. But, moreover Calleigh was livid with Eric. She didn't need anyone to take care of her. And here was Eric trying to be her knight in shining armor.

"You didn't need to be." Calleigh told Eric. Her voice had turned icy.

Calleigh got up from the table and walked back inside. Eric was left alone on the deck, the Miami sun setting off in the distance. This was the reaction he had expected from Calleigh. He had expected her to throw her walls back up defensively and push him away. Now, the only question was whether or not he should follow her inside.

Eric's question was answered when the door opened and Calleigh walked back out onto the deck. Without speaking, Calleigh walked over to Eric and gently took his hand from under the table. She placed an ice pack on his bruised knuckles and sat back down at the table, gently removing her hand from his.

Eric's body tingled when Calleigh's hand brushed up against his. He could tell from her touch that her icy mood had melted. He looked up at her.

"Thanks." Eric said. Calleigh smiled and Eric took the opportunity to continue. "You want to tell me about those pictures? They were brutal Cal. It makes me sick to think someone did that to you."

Calleigh took a deep breath and looked away from Eric towards the sunset.

"It's in the past Eric. Don't get so upset over them." Calleigh began.

"Don't get upset?" Eric's voice was a mixture of amazement and frustration, but Calleigh cut him off before he could continue.

"Eric…" Calleigh warned. "It happened a long time ago."

When Calleigh realized that Eric wasn't going to go on until she had explained, she took a deep breath and began to tell her story.

"Eric, you have to understand that I was 18 in those pictures. You know that my life in Louisiana was less than ideal. Around the time of graduation, my boyfriend proposed. I accepted. To me it was like he was offering me a way out. He started to come home drunk and angry a few nights. When I recognized the pattern, I knew that I needed to leave. I had been through it with my dad; I wasn't going to start a new life that reflected my old one. I told him I was leaving. The relationship was over and that I was leaving to go to school. He became insanely angry. I can still remember the look in his eyes. They were glazed over with rage. That was the same night as those pictures." Calleigh paused, looked at Eric and took a breath. "He went on to kill another girl that night instead of me. The pictures of her are even worse than mine. She was young, blonde, just like me in every way, except she was a stranger to him. When the police showed up, I testified and ultimately put him in jail for what he did to me and the other girl. After that I healed, left to go to college and never looked back."

Calleigh finished her story and looked down at her hands which were folded on the table in front of her. Eric looked at Calleigh and followed her gaze down to her hands. He reached out his good hand and covered hers with it. Upon contact, Calleigh's body flinched and she pulled her hands away.

"Calleigh…" Eric said.

"Eric, I'm fine. I didn't take myself off the case because I didn't think I could handle it. I took myself off the case because it was a conflict of interest. I am the evidence in the past cases. I can't process the evidence now. It's a simple as that."

"But it's not that simple, Cal." Eric growled. "This guy hurt you and has killed people, and now he's out there. He's here in Miami."

"And I'm a big girl, Eric. I even have my own gun." Calleigh said with a smile. "I'm fine."

Eric wasn't sure if Calleigh was fine. In fact, he was pretty sure that she was putting on an act for him. But that was how Calleigh dealt with things. Sometimes he really wished that wasn't so stubborn and would let people in.

Eric's thoughts were interrupted by Calleigh's cell phone.

"Duquesne." Calleigh answered. "Thank you for calling. I'll be right there."

Calleigh flipped her phone shut and looked at Eric.

"Hey, I'm sorry to cut our dinner short, but I need to go."

"I'm not letting you drop this that easily, Cal." Eric said, grabbing her hand one more time.

"First, I think you need to check your anger about this at the door. And second, I need to go. You don't get a say in this right now." Calleigh said calmly, even though Eric could see the aggravation in her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Eric asked as Calleigh got up, blocking her way to the door.

"Not that it's any of your business, but my father is back in town. Evidentially he decided to start drinking early tonight. He's passed out in a bar and I need to go pick him up." With her admission, Calleigh turned slightly away from Eric. She felt ashamed of her family. Not everyone had the perfect, loving family like Eric. Calleigh has always envied him for the relationship he had with his parents and siblings. "Please move, Eric."

"I'm coming with you." Eric said a bit less forcefully. Truth be told, Eric wasn't ready to let Calleigh go gallivanting around on the streets of Miami when he knew there could be a dangerous man out after her.

Calleigh knew that agreeing to let Eric come would be much easier that arguing with him. In fact, she appreciated the fact that Eric seemed concerned about her. Calleigh smiled up at Eric in a way that communicated her appreciation and began to clear the plates off the table.

Eric grabbed the last few things off the table, set them inside and followed Calleigh out to her car.


	6. The Long Drive

Calleigh drove in silence to the bar. Eric simply sat next to her alternating between looking out the window and looking at Calleigh. Silence had always made Eric uncomfortable. He was okay with the fact that Calleigh didn't want to talk, but he wished she would turn on the radio. Eric had half a mind to do it himself, but he remembered the time when Speed had decided to take it upon himself to change the music in Calleigh's car.

_Flashback_

_Eric and Speed had been sitting in Calleigh's car at a gas station, waiting for Calleigh to come back after filling the gas tank. Calleigh sank into the driver's seat and suddenly sat up straight, cocking her head to one side._

"_What is this?" Calleigh asked suspiciously._

"_Calleigh, what are you talking about?" Eric asked confusedly from the back seat._

"_Speed, did you fiddle with the radio?" Calleigh asked. She had turned towards Speed in the passenger's seat, her green eyes boring holes through his skull._

_Something about Calleigh's expression told Eric and Speed that she wasn't taking this lightly._

"_Yeah." Speed replied nonchalantly. "I love ya Cal, but I don't love your music. We'd been listening to that crap for 45 minutes already! I needed a break."_

_Calleigh simply stared at Speed, her eyes wide. She bit her lip and shook her head in disbelief._

"_Get out." Calleigh said._

"_What?" Speed asked with a chuckle. Calleigh had to be kidding._

"_You heard me. Get out." Calleigh said it calmly, but quite decidedly._

"_Cal, you can't be serious." Speed implored._

"_Speed, get out of my car." _

_The boys could tell she was definitely serious. Speed slumped over in the seat and hung his head. Calleigh's annoyance looked like it could turn into anger and Speed wanted to avoid that. Without saying another word, Speed opened the door, got out and shut the door again. His eyes darted to Eric's in the back seat, pleading with him to get Calleigh to come to her senses._

"_Calleigh? Come on." Eric started from the back._

"_Do you want to get out too, Eric?" Calleigh asked._

"_No. I'm fine right here." Eric said, throwing his hands up in defeat._

_Calleigh started the engine, threw the car into gear and drove away leaving Speed staring at the taillights of her car in disbelief._

_It wasn't more than 30 second later that Calleigh doubled back and pulled up to Speed, who was sitting on the curb in front of the gas station looking bewildered. As the car pulled up, Speed looked up and could see Calleigh staring at him through the windshield, eyebrows raised as if she expected something. Speed got up and walked around to the passenger side door. He tried opening it, but it was locked. Speed exhaled angrily and Calleigh rolled down the window._

"_You want to get in?" Calleigh asked sweetly._

"_Yes!" Speed said in a huff._

"_Well?" Calleigh asked expectantly._

"_I'm sorry for messing with your radio, Calleigh." Speed said. He avoided eye contact with Calleigh while he was talking, stealing a peek at her just as he finished to see if his apology had an effect._

_Calleigh didn't say anything. Speed was about to give up hope about getting back in the car, when he heard the locks pop up and all the doors to the car unlock. Speed quickly opened the door and jumped into the car next to Calleigh._

"_Let this be a lesson to you, Tim. Never come between a girl and her music." Calleigh said with a smile._

Eric smiled remembering how pissed off Speed had been. He also remembered that Speed never again touched anything on Calleigh's dashboard. Calleigh had been in a good mood that day with Speed. Eric could only imagine what would happen if he chose today to turn on the radio against her wishes. She was already upset and he knew her gun wasn't far away.

The car pulled to a stop in along the street in front of a seedy looking bar. Calleigh put the car in park, but made no move to get out of the car. Slowly she bent over, leaning her forehead against the steering wheel. Eric could see her breath in and out slowly and deeply.

"You okay?" Eric asked, breaking the silence. When Calleigh hadn't moved in a few seconds he knew he had to ask.

"I'm tired, Eric." Calleigh said honestly. "I'm tired of all this. Of him."

Eric was impressed that she was being so open with him. He laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Then stop it. Stop picking him up every time he falls apart." Eric suggested.

"I can't. He's my father." Calleigh looked up at Eric and gave him a pleading smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes. "I need to go in and get him."

Eric reached over to grab Calleigh's arm and keep her from getting out of the car.

"Let me go. You wait here. We'll be out in a minute." Eric offered. The look of relief and gratitude that momentarily washed over Calleigh didn't go unnoticed.

Eric left the car and walked up to the door of the bar. The bar was dark and smoky. As the door shut behind Eric, it took his eyes a moment to adjust from the evening sky outside. Looking around, Eric finally spotted Calleigh's father along the back wall of the bar. He was sitting in a booth, slumped over towards the table. Eric walked over towards him, asking the bartender about his tab as he passed across the bar.

"Mr. Dusquense?" Eric said, laying his hand on the man's shoulder. Calleigh's father looked up lazily at Eric, trying and failing to focus his eyes on the strange man in front of him. "Mr. Dusquense? I don't know if you remember me. I'm Eric Delko. I work with Calleigh. I came in to get you. You ready to go?"

"Where is my little lamb chop?" Keith Dusquense slurred.

"She's out in the car. She was having problems finding a parking space." Eric said, bending the truth just a little. "Let's get you up sir."

Eric helped Calleigh's father stand and supported him as they staggered to the door. Eric slapped some money on the bar to cover the tab and they walked out the door. Calleigh's father had been mumbling on the way out, as if attempting to make conversation with Eric, but Eric couldn't make out anything from his slurred speech.

Calleigh pulled the car up and Eric opened the back door. After helping her father into the back, Eric slid back into the passenger seat next to Calleigh.

"Hey there lamb chop." Calleigh's father said.

"Hey, daddy." Calleigh said.

Eric thought Calleigh sounded more tired than he had ever heard her sound. He noticed that Calleigh hadn't even turned around to look at her father. She simply glanced at him in the rearview mirror and then shifted her attention to the road.

Calleigh's father passed out in the car, leaving it quiet again. Calleigh drove silently down the streets of Miami. She knew where her father was staying. She had been making this trip a lot lately. Suddenly Calleigh realized how drained she was. Even though she had taken the day off, she felt drained of all her energy and emotion. She took a deep breath as she pulled into a parking space and got ready to take care of her father again.

When they parked, Eric jumped out of the car and got Calleigh's father out of the back before Calleigh even had a chance to get around to his side of the car. Calleigh couldn't tell Eric just now, but she was really happy that he was there. Between the two of them, Eric and Calleigh managed to get Keith Duquesne's massive form upstairs and into his room without causing too much commotion. Once they were inside his room, Eric stayed in the living room and let Calleigh take care of her father in his bedroom. Eric tried to busy himself by looking around the room, but there wasn't much to see in a hotel room and he found himself listening to Calleigh as she cared for her father.

"Daddy, there's water on the table and some aspirin."

"You're so good to me, Calleigh." His speech was so slurred that Calleigh's name sounded like it had five syllables. "I don't deserve a good little girl like you."

"No you don't, daddy." Calleigh said quietly while her back was turned to her father.

"Ran into a friend of yours today." He father began as Calleigh helped him slid underneath the sheets.

"I know, daddy. Eric was in the car with us after he helped you out of the bar." Calleigh said. Eric couldn't help but think about how it sounded like Calleigh was talking to a small child.

"No, lamb chop. I saw your Brian. Such a good boy. Bought me a drink too." Calleigh's father mumbled. His eyelids dropped shut and a snore escaped his mouth as he passed out.

All the color had faded from Calleigh's face. She could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, threatening to beat right out onto the floor. She took a few steps forward into the other room, her eyes suddenly darting around the room as if she were looking for something.

Eric walked up to her and held out his hand.

"Give me the keys, Cal. I'll drive."

Calleigh didn't say anything as she handed her car keys over to Eric. She flashed a weak smile up at Eric. Eric wrapped his arm protectively around Calleigh as they walked out of her father's hotel room and back down to the car.

Back at Calleigh's, Eric wasn't too sure if Calleigh would want him to come back in or not. Calleigh hadn't said anything in the car, but she wasn't acting like herself. Calleigh seemed small and vulnerable in the seat next to him. Calleigh was tough, or at least she liked to act like she was. Eric rarely saw the exposed side of Calleigh.

Eric pulled the car into a parking space next to his car. He turned towards Calleigh, taking her hand in his. Calleigh looked down at his hand, seeing the bruises and dried blood from earlier in the day.

"Calleigh? The other day, when I was teasing you about leaving work to go and meet a guy. There wasn't a guy was there?" Eric asked, silently kicking himself for being such a jerk that day.

"No." Calleigh said. Her voice was so quiet, Eric almost missed it.

When Eric looked up from Calleigh's hand, he could see the wetness in her eyes that was threatening to spill over as tears.

"You left to go take care of your dad, didn't you?" Eric confirmed.

"Yeah. He had a midday bender." Calleigh said a little more forcefully this time.

"I was a jerk, Cal. I'm sorry." Eric apologized.

"You didn't know. I wasn't very nice that day either." Calleigh said. Calleigh turned, as if she were going to get out of the car. Eric's words stopped her.

"Calleigh, what did your dad say to you in his bedroom? What did he say to upset you?" The concern was evident in Eric's voice. Eric could tell that Calleigh had no intentions of telling him what had gone on in the bedroom earlier. "Cal, talk to me. I heard your dad mention someone in the bar. What did he say?"

When Calleigh turned back around to talk to Eric, he could see the tears in her eyes and the one stray tear that had escaped and made its way down her cheek.

"My dad said he had run into a friend of mine in the bar." Calleigh stopped and took a breath. Eric could feel her hand and arm trembling. "I thought for a moment that he was talking about you, but then he said that he had seen 'my Brian'."

Calleigh looked at Eric to see if the name registered with him. Seeing that it didn't, Calleigh knew she had to elaborate.

"Eric. Brian is Brian McMartin. The suspect in your case. My ex-fiancé." Calleigh's voice broke with the last few words. She pulled her hands away from Eric's and quickly jumped out of the car. Calleigh swiped at the tears that were falling from her eyes and she dashed up towards her building. She could vaguely hear footsteps approaching her quickly.

"Calleigh!" Eric said, as he grabbed her and spun her around. "God, Calleigh. You can't go home. There's a guy out there who's hurt you. He might come after you again. You can't just tell me this and walk away into your house!" Eric was practically yelling at Calleigh, but there was panic in his voice.

"I'm fine Eric. Right now I just want to go home and go to sleep." Calleigh said, turning away from Eric. She simply didn't want him to see how upset she was.

"Cal." Eric said, his voice raspy with the emotion he was feeling. Eric walked to Calleigh and wrapped his arms around her from the back. He could feel Calleigh's body relax and lean into his. Eric rubbed the sides of her arms gently and kissed the top of her head. This display of affection caused Calleigh to tense up all over again.

"I'll see you tomorrow at work, Eric." Calleigh said, pulling away. Calleigh walked into her building, leaving Eric standing in her wake.


	7. Blowing Off

"How could you not see that?" Calleigh demanded of Ryan. Calleigh had walked into the trace lab to talk to Ryan, and now her voice could be heard down the hallway.

"I'm sorry, Calleigh. I didn't…" Ryan started.

"Forget about it, Wolfe. I'll do it myself." Calleigh said as she stormed out of the trace lab, leaving a shocked Ryan standing behind her.

Calleigh almost ran Eric over in the hallway, not seeing him as she brushed by him and stalked down the hallway. Eric let out a long whistled and turned to look into the trace lab. Ryan was standing in the middle of the lab, looking lost and rubbing his forehead.

"Hey, man. What happened here?" Eric said, walking into the lab.

"I really don't know, Eric. One minute I was trying to get a report from Valera and the next, Calleigh is in here yelling at me about something." Ryan explained.

"What did you do?" Eric said with a chuckle. He knew that even though Calleigh had a much better relationship with Ryan than he did, that Calleigh still got irritated with Ryan sometimes.

"I didn't do anything!" Ryan said, raising his voice and sounding desperate.

"Okay, man. I believe you." Eric said, smiling and grinning. "Well, go and apologize. It'll make all our lives easier."

"I don't even know what I did." Ryan said. "I guess it's better than the rest of the day."

"How do you mean?" Eric asked. Calleigh hadn't talked to him all day. In fact, it seemed to Eric like she had been going through great lengths to avoid him.

"Well, Calleigh hasn't talked to me all day. She's been down right cold and mean, walking right past me and pretending like I don't exist." Ryan hung his head and shifted his feet as he talked.

Eric could tell that Calleigh's behavior was bothering Ryan. In fact it was bothering him too – he just hadn't had a lot of time to think about it.

After leaving Calleigh's last night, Eric had called Horatio and gone back to the bar to see if their suspect had left any evidence. The only thing Eric and Horatio could find was a bartender who confirmed that he thought he had seen a man matching Brian McMartin's description in the bar that evening. With not much more to go on, Eric had spent the day processing and reprocessing evidence and attempting to find a lead.

Eric decided to let Ryan wallow in his own self-pity for a while and get back to work making a mental note about talking to Calleigh later on in his shift.

An hour or two later, Eric finished up with some evidence and was walking down the hallway only to see Calleigh walking briskly away from the break room and a bewildered looking lab tech walking the other way dejectedly. Ryan was standing inside with Alexx, looking a little lost.

"Calleigh strike again?" Eric said, walking in to talk to Ryan and Alexx.

"I don't get it." Ryan began, "I didn't do anything this time. Really. But she's still acting like I killed her pet chinchilla and tossed him into a meat grinder." Ryan looked down at the ground. Eric could tell that Calleigh had been really hard on him.

"A chinchilla, man? Ryan you've got to get some new lines." Eric said. He was concerned about Calleigh, but he couldn't help but laugh at Ryan. "I don't get it either. Maybe she's just having a bad day."

"You boys don't get it?" Alexx asked from outside the conversation as if the answer to her question was as plain as day.

"No. Why don't you enlighten us?" Eric asked. The tone of his voice was much more sarcastic than he had intended it to be. "Sorry, Alexx. I'm just frustrated. I don't get why she's acting like this."

"Honey. What's there not to get?" Alexx chided. "Calleigh's a strong, independent girl. You have both seen her at one of her most vulnerable moments. She doesn't want you to think of her that way."

"So, she's pushing us away to prove that she's strong?" Ryan asked almost unbelievingly.

"In not so many words…yes." Alexx said.

Ryan shook his head and walked away to get a drink. He still had that puppy dog look on his face as if he had done something wrong and somewhere, somehow, someone would find out.

""Eric, you two are too good of friends for this to be happening. Find her and talk to her." Alexx said wisely. "You know, I should get a couch and start charging for this kind of thing."

Alex smiled, as did Eric, and swatted him on the arm. Eric always appreciated how Alexx could make him feel better. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks." Eric said with a grin.

A few hours later at the end of his shift, Eric decided that he would catch up with Calleigh. She had added a few more notches to her belt throughout the day, leaving more than one CSI employee with their tail tucked between their legs. It was a Friday night and Eric was hoping that Calleigh might want to grab something to eat so they could talk.

By the time Eric got his things together, he discovered that Calleigh had already headed out of the building. He caught up with her in the parking lot.

"Calleigh!" Eric shouted in the direction of her car. Calleigh stopped when she heard her name, but didn't turn around. Eric could see her shoulders tense slightly as he shouted her name again and jogged up to her.

"Hey," Eric panted. "You're a hard person to catch up with."

"I'm just heading home." Calleigh said flatly.

"I can tell." Eric finally got in front of Calleigh and stopped.

Calleigh looked up at Eric and then looked around, seemingly avoiding Eric's gaze.

"Hey, what's with you today?" Eric asked.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Calleigh asked innocently.

"Calleigh. You've got at least half a dozen people back at the lab licking their wounds and hiding from you. You're on a warpath today. Ryan looks like he's ready to jump on a raft _to_ Cuba he's so scared of you." Eric paused for a moment and chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "Although, seeing him roughed up has been fun."

Calleigh was quiet for a moment, biting her lower lip.

"I've been a bit off today." Looking up and seeing the look on Eric's face made her rethink her comment. "Okay. I may have been hard on some people. I'm sorry. I don't know what's come over me."

A night chill was coming over Miami, and Calleigh shuddered – though she couldn't tell if it was the sudden chill or the silence between she and Eric. Eric and Calleigh stood in silence for about a minute. Eric was about to ask Calleigh to go grab some dinner, but Calleigh beat him to the punch.

"Hey, Eric? You want to go out tonight?" Calleigh's voice suddenly softer, but more urgent.

"Yeah. I was going to ask if you wanted to go get some dinner. But, whatever you're up for." Eric conceded.

"Let's go out. There's that club downtown. You know, the one with the bubbles? I need to go home and change, but you can come and pick me up in around two hours?" Calleigh cocked her head to one side as she talked to Eric.

"And here I was thinking that after your day you might want a quiet dinner somewhere." Eric said.

"I had a quiet dinner last night." Calleigh stopped and waited for a reaction from Eric. When she really didn't get one, she continued. "I want something that's the opposite of quiet. Pick me up in two hours?"

"Sure." Eric said with a shrug.


	8. Steam

Two hours later, Eric was knocking on Calleigh's door. He couldn't help but scan the perimeter of her building to make sure that no one was lurking about and that everything was in its correct place. There was no answer to his first knock, so Eric tried again. When he didn't hear anything coming from the other side of the door, panic began to rise up inside him. He was sure that Calleigh had said to pick her up in two hours. Why wasn't she answering the door?

Eric was about to knock one more time when he put his hand on the doorknob. To his surprise the door was unlocked and swung open easily. Wishing he had his gun with him, Eric stepped into Calleigh's apartment slowly. He quickly scanned the living room and turned the corner into the kitchen, stepping quietly and desperately trying to find Calleigh.

"Eric!" Calleigh said, walking up behind him.

Eric jumped about three feet with surprise and turned around to face Calleigh, sighing with relief.

"What are you doing?" Calleigh asked.

"God, Calleigh. Don't sneak up on me like that. You didn't answer the door, and then it was open. I thought…"

"Eric. Don't be so dramatic." Calleigh said with a sigh.

"Calleigh, why aren't you taking this guy seriously?" Eric asked. Calleigh could hear the frustration seeping into his voice again. Eric nervously ran his hand across his head and looked back at Calleigh.

"I take him as seriously as any other suspect, Eric. But I will not let him control my life." Calleigh paused and looked at Eric to see if he had heard her. "Now, are you taking me out? Or do I need to go on my own?"

Eric finally looked at Calleigh. Really looked at her.

"Wow." Eric said quietly.

"What?" Calleigh asked him with a questioning glance.

"You look good. Great even. I mean…wow."

Calleigh was wearing a short, flowing black skirt and a green, ruffled halter-top that matched her eyes. Her top was low cut enough to leave little to the imagination and tied around her neck, exposing her bare back to him when she turned around. Calleigh had left her hair wavy and falling down around her face. She smiled mischievously at Eric. Eric wondered if Calleigh had always been this beautiful and he had failed to notice. Something about the way that she smiled at him caught him off guard. Suddenly Eric had the urge to tell Calleigh that they should stay in. He didn't want to take her where there would be other guys, hell, other people around. He couldn't shake that feeling as he stared at Calleigh.

"If you stand around with your mouth hanging open like that, Eric, bugs are going to fly in and find a new home." Calleigh grabbed Eric's hand and pulled him towards the door. "Come on, I want to go."

Eric shook his head, closed his mouth and followed Calleigh out the door.

The club Calleigh picked was relatively new and packed full of people. The lights were low and the music was loud. After they got inside, Eric instinctively grabbed Calleigh's hand and pulled her towards the bar. They ordered drinks and relaxed, having a look around.

"Leave it to you to want to go to the only club with bubbles!" Eric said into Calleigh's ear.

Calleigh shivered slightly at the sensation of Eric's lips being so close and his breath brushing her ear.

"I do what I can." Calleigh said with a smile, her southern accent getting thicker with every drink she took. Calleigh looked up at the larger, transparent bubbles that were cascading down all around the club.

Suddenly, Calleigh pulled Eric out onto the dance floor. Eric was completely okay with abandoning his drink for a chance to dance with Calleigh. The way to the dance floor was crowded and Eric, who was following behind Calleigh, placed his hands gently on her hips, guiding her through the mob. Calleigh jumped slightly when Eric's hands came to rest on her hips, but only she could tell. Finally on the dance floor, Eric spun Calleigh around and they began to dance.

Calleigh has gone out with Eric and Speed before, but Eric could never remember dancing this close to Calleigh. Their bodies almost moved in unison and Eric could practically feel Calleigh's breath on his chest – though he did find it comical that he could practically see right over her.

Eric was so caught up watching and enjoying Calleigh that he didn't see another girl practically run up to him through the crowd.

"Eric!"

Calleigh seemed shocked when a pretty girl yelled Eric's name and threw her arms around his neck. To Calleigh it looked like this girl was trying to position her lips close to Eric's. Eric stopped dancing, partly because of the girl hanging off of him and partly because of Calleigh's scowl.

"Whoa!" Eric said, pushing his admirer away a bit. "Uh, hey….."

It was obvious to Calleigh that Eric was trying desperately to remember her name.

"Tracy, you dweeb!" Tracy said with mock irritation punching Eric in the shoulder. She instantly hooked herself to Eric's side and began dancing. Close.

Eric looked at Calleigh. His eyes pleading for help. Eric was used to this sort of thing, though usually he remembered a girl's name. But, with Calleigh around he felt embarrassed. Eric desperately wanted Tracy to disappear and for the night to go on like this had never happened.

Calleigh simply rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to get another drink. Find me when you're…free." Calleigh smiled and walked off the dance floor.

To Eric it seemed like Calleigh found his situation humorous. He sighed and figured that he'd keep Tracy occupied for the next few minutes. Maybe then she'd leave him alone.

A while later, Eric had finally gotten rid of Tracy… and Raquel and Alexis, too. He glanced around the club and realized, when he couldn't immediately find Calleigh, how long it had been. Craning his neck to see around people, Eric first worried that she had left the club, but then, over by the bar, the lights hit on blonde, wavy hair swinging over someone's shoulder.

Eric's eyes focused on Calleigh. He grinned at the sight he saw first – Calleigh waiting all alone for him to come back. Eric's grin, however, turned into a frown when he saw a man standing next to Calleigh. He started to walk over to where Calleigh was, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the next exchange of words between Calleigh and her new friend.

Calleigh had thrown her hands up and then onto the man's chest. Eric could clearly see her say "no" and "stop". The man leaned in closer to Calleigh and she repeated her requests to the man, who in Eric's mind had no intention of complying. Eric suddenly saw red and practically ran over to Calleigh's side.

"Hey man, I think the lady asked you to stop. Back off." Eric snarled at the man, clipping him on the shoulder in the process.

"Whoa!" The guy said as he stumbled backwards a few steps. "I'm not looking for trouble. We were just talking. And I don't remember you being part of our conversation." The man was waving his hand around to show that the conversation included only him and Calleigh, and then he stepped in front of Eric to push him further away from Calleigh.

Eric muscled his way past the man, closer to Calleigh, and was about to tell the guy to get the hell away from her and ask her if she was okay, when Calleigh swatted him on his arm.

"Eric, stop it!" Calleigh drawled. Her thick accent made Eric wonder exactly how much she had had to drink. He counted four empty shot glasses on the table in front of her. "Don't get all Conan the protective barbarian on me! This is my new best friend Marty! Marty's been buying me drinks while you were off being groped."

"I wasn't being….forget it. Cal, how many shots have you had?" Eric felt himself playing the big brother card as he looked down at Calleigh with expectant eyes. Calleigh didn't answer, she simply giggled as she counted her fingers. Eric turned to Marty. "Thanks man, but I think she's had enough."

"No, no, no." Marty insisted, waving his hands drunkenly in the air and then stumbling and reaching for Calleigh's hand. "This sugarplum and I are together. You heard the lady…we're _best friends_."

Calleigh giggled again and swatted at a bubble, oblivious to the man who was laying claim to her. Eric stepped squarely in front of Marty, stopping him from getting closer to Calleigh by thrusting out his chest. Eric didn't like the way Marty was looking at Calleigh. Who was he kidding? Eric didn't like anything about Marty.

"Back off, man. She's with me." Eric said, lowering his voice. His dark eyes obviously meant business.

"But, Katie and I…" Marty slurred as he considered brushing by Eric.

"Her name's Calleigh. I got her name right, so I get the girl. Get lost." Eric reinforced his words with a "gentle" push to Marty's chest. Marty took the hint and slunk away.

When Eric turned around, a big grin was spreading over Calleigh's face.

"You get the girl, huh?" Calleigh said sweetly, arching her eyebrows and smiling.

"Damn, straight." Eric took a few steps closer to Calleigh.

Calleigh tried standing up, nearly toppling over in the process. Eric reached in, wrapped his arms around Calleigh's waist and pulled her back into a standing position.

"I want to play with the bubbles, again." Calleigh said with a giggle. "Let's go dance!" Calleigh tried wiggling around Eric, but he held onto her.

"I don't think so, Cal. You can't even stand up straight." Eric chuckled at Calleigh. "How about we head home?"

"No." Calleigh's lips formed a pout. "You spent all that time with….with…your little _women_ and I haven't gotten a chance to dance with you."

Calleigh took a step forward, and tumbled into Eric's arms. Eric didn't know what to think. He had seen Calleigh have a beer or two other times when they had gone out, but Eric was positive he had never seen Calleigh _drunk_ before. Drunk didn't even begin to describe Calleigh at this moment. Eric smiled. He was enjoying drunken Calleigh. It was nice to see her let her guard down a bit.

What Calleigh said next caught Eric's attention.

Calleigh leaned into Eric, resting her chin on his chest and looking straight up into Eric's eyes.

"Do you miss Trixie? Is that it?" Calleigh said, over-exaggerating her pout.

"Her name's Tracy and no." Eric said. He was going to say something else, when he felt a hand snake down his back and rest on his butt.

Calleigh rose up onto her tiptoes, bringing her lips to Eric's ear. Her breath tickled his ear and even though it was warm in the club, Eric felt a slight shiver travel down his body.

"I can be more like Trixie." Calleigh whispered playfully into Eric's ear.

Before Eric could remind Calleigh that the girl's name was Tracy, he felt Calleigh's hands traveling to places below his waist. Eric's mind was having trouble processing what was happening. He had had fantasies about Calleigh, but this was unexpected.

"Calleigh…" Eric moaned, more as a warning. There was part of him screaming that this just wasn't right.

"Be like Trixie." Calleigh said devilishly, a gleam showing in her eyes. "It's my new motto." Calleigh smiled to herself and leaned in, her lips colliding with Eric's.

Eric was taken by surprise, jumping back a little. But Calleigh just kept going, biting Eric's lip playfully.

Finally, Eric pushed her away.

"Wow, Calleigh. I…" Eric stopped, hoping he could put together a complete sentence. "Come, on. Let's go. You're going to end up regretting this tomorrow."

It was taking all the self-control and restraint that Eric had not to push Calleigh up against a wall and kiss her.

Calleigh put one finger in front of his lips.

"Sshh." She whispered. Eric's knees almost buckled, Calleigh's voice was soft, sweet and her heavy accent clung to even the shortest sound. Calleigh reached up to grab Eric's neck and pull him closer for another kiss. Eric was stunned by this turn of events – the room almost seemed to be spinning.

As Calleigh's lips began to connect with Eric's, he felt her hand snake its way down his thigh and back up the inside. His breathing hitched and he looked at Calleigh.

"Calleigh…" Eric said, her name coming out more like a moan.

Eric firmly grabbed both of Calleigh's wrists and held them in front of her, putting some space between their bodies.

"Stop teasing me." Eric smiled and shook his head, not fully believing what he was about to do. "Let's go." He said softly.

Eric released one of Calleigh's wrists, but pulled her out of the club by the other. Calleigh was a bit wobbly, but she made it to he car before passing out. The car ride back to Eric's was quiet. He turned on the radio, breaking the silence, but he couldn't stop thinking about Calleigh.

Eric carried Calleigh into his condo and gently placed her on his bed. When he head made contact with the bed, Calleigh rolled over and curled up around one of Eric's pillows. Staring at Calleigh, Eric ran his hand through his hair and grinned.


	9. Hangovers

A breeze blew through the window and tickled Calleigh's nose, waking her slightly. That was the first thing Calleigh noticed. Calleigh's bed was nowhere near a window and the breeze confused her. Calleigh pried her eyes open and found herself staring into Eric's wide open, dark brown eyes. This was the next thing she noticed. Her mind began to piece together the fact that this was indeed not her own bedroom and that she was lying in bed with Eric.

Unnerved by her situation, Calleigh tried to sit up quickly. The sudden movement caused her head to spin, her body to sway and Calleigh to groan as she sank back into bed with a thud and covered her face.

"Oh." Calleigh said, trying to make her head stop spinning.

Eric chuckled as he propped himself up on his elbow, his body still turned towards Calleigh.

"Good morning snoring beauty." Had it not been for Eric's perfect smile and the fact that Calleigh didn't feel like she could move in a coordinated way, she would have hit him.

"I do not snore!" Calleigh tried to protest.

"Oh, Calleigh." Eric reached over and pushed a piece of hair out of her face. "I'm afraid to tell you…when you're drunk, you snore. I'd be surprised if the neighbors got any sleep at all last night!"

Eric's chuckling made Calleigh's head hurt even more.

"Eric!" Calleigh try to exclaim, but this hangover made Calleigh feel like she was moving in slow motion.

"Just kidding. It wasn't that bad." Eric said, getting up out of bed.

Calleigh sighed and pulled the covers up over her head.

"It was an incredibly stupid thing to do." Calleigh moaned from under the covers.

"Snoring?" Eric asked.

"That too. No, drinking so much." Calleigh mumbled.

"I'm glad you recognize that." Eric said, a wide grin spreading and showing his perfect white teeth. "It was really, really, really, really stupid."

"I think that's one too many reallys." Calleigh said as matter of factly as she could muster.

Eric pulled back the covers and used one of his large hands to tussle Calleigh's hair, making it look messier than it already did. He stopped and looked down at Calleigh, chuckling. Calleigh moaned again as she let her head drop back down onto the pillow.

"You know I'm right. The fifth shot was probably one too many, but the three that followed it were definitely not your finest hour."

Eric leaned down and tenderly kissed the top of Calleigh's head and ran his thumb over her cheek. The intimacy of the moment wasn't lost on Calleigh, even in her present state.

"I left some water and Advil on the table. We'll talk later when you're up."

Eric walked quietly out of the bedroom, leaving Calleigh to piece together the events of the night before.

Calleigh closed her eyes and sighed. Slowly her brain began to function again. She remembered leaving her place and going to the club. Then there was a girl hanging all over Eric, and then a guy. Manny? Mikey? Marty. Then Calleigh remembered having a shot…or a few…with Marty. And then there was…Eric.

Calleigh rubbed her eyes and slowly remembered last night and Eric. Reaching over to the bedside table, Calleigh swallowed the Advil Eric had left and downed the glass of water. She slid out of bed and staggered out of Eric's bedroom and into the kitchen where he was making breakfast.

"How are you feeling?" Eric said over his shoulder, his back to Calleigh as he stood at the stove.

"Like I've been run over by something big and heavy." Calleigh said. Calleigh hopped up and sat on the counter close to where Eric was cooking. "Pancakes?"

"Yeah. I even put in chocolate chips. Just like you like them." Eric grinned as he talked and deftly flipped a pancake up in the air and back into the pan.

Calleigh sat and watched Eric for a while without talking. Eric seemed to glow in the bright, morning sunshine that lit up his kitchen. It all seemed so natural to Calleigh. She was sitting on the counter watching Eric cook. He seemed so comfortable, in sweatpants and a T-shirt and bare feet, cooking her favorite kind of pancakes on a Saturday morning. Calleigh started to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Eric asked as he plated the last few pancakes.

"Nothing." Calleigh said with a smile, her head starting to feel less and less like exploding. "It's just that you're barefoot and in the kitchen. It's a good look for you!"

"Thanks." Eric said as he rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're all dressed up for breakfast this morning."

Between bemoaning her hangover and marveling at Eric's aptitude in the kitchen, Calleigh hadn't noticed what she was wearing. Calleigh looked down her body. She had on a white T-shirt and bright blue pajama bottoms with pink, yellow and green conversation hearts all over them. These definitely weren't the clothes that Calleigh had worn out last night, and for the life of her she couldn't remember changing clothes at all. Eric seemed oblivious to the looks of confusion that were playing on Calleigh's face.

"Uh, Eric. Where did I get these pajamas?" Calleigh asked.

"They're mine. Don't get me wrong, I loved your outfit last night, but there was no way you could sleep in that.'

"Eric, I don't remember putting this on." Calleigh gestured to her attire as she talked to Eric.

Eric dropped his head and looked away from Calleigh. "Well, technically you didn't, Cal. I mean you helped…you lifted your arm when I needed you to…but…"

"Eric!" Calleigh's face showed shock and embarrassment. She couldn't believe that Eric had undressed her and redressed her in pajamas.

"Whoa, Calleigh, don't panic." Eric said reassuringly. He set the pancakes down on the kitchen table and walked over to where Calleigh was still sitting on the counter. He hadn't really considered it a big deal at the time, and he still didn't now. However, it was becoming clear that maybe Calleigh thought it was a bigger deal. Calleigh's eyes were wide and she was staring at Eric with a look of shock on her face. Eric found it all quite cute.

"Don't panic? Eric, you…" Calleigh's voice trailed off. Eric could read her thoughts like a book, her voice getting higher and more southern with every syllable out of her mouth.

"Calleigh, it's not like I haven't seen it all before." Eric said. He shook his head and grinned.

"Eric Delko! You have not seen it all before! You have never seen me without my clothes!" Calleigh protested.

"Girls, Calleigh. I have seen girls without their clothes before." Eric walked over to Calleigh and positioned himself directly in front of her. His hips came to rest against the counter and between Calleigh's knees. "I'm sorry Calleigh, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Calleigh took a deep breath.

"Eric, what happened last night?" Calleigh's voice was closer to a whisper.

"Nothing, Cal. Don't worry you're pretty little head about it." Eric decided to gloss over certain parts of the night. If Calleigh was embarrassed about what she was wearing, he didn't want to make her feel worse by regaling the events of the night before.

"Eric." Calleigh's voice was low and warned Eric to tell her the truth.

"The short story is that after I ran off your new friend, _Marty_, you groped me, felt me up, kissed me, then propositioned me and passed out in the car." Eric paused quickly to look at Calleigh, who seemed to be looking for the nearest hole to crawl into. Eric quickly grinned and added, "It was a good night for me."

"Oh my god, Eric. I'm sorry." Calleigh couldn't bring her eyes up to meet Eric's. She was embarrassed and all the voices in her head were telling her to get down off the counter and leave. Calleigh began to hop down off the counter.

Eric leaned in, placing one hand on the counter next to Calleigh and his other on the cabinets behind her, effectively boxing her in. He leaned in so that his head was close to hers. She could feel his body heat on her body.

"Hey." Eric said quietly. At the sound of Eric's voice, Calleigh looked up and directly into Eric's eyes, the counter had erased their height difference. "Don't be sorry. Maybe I don't want you to be sorry."

Eric's words hit Calleigh like a rock. She was stunned and it took her a few second to process what he had said. Her body had been so tense and her mind racing miles per minute, which with a hangover didn't feel too good. She let her body relax and as Calleigh slumped forward, she let her forehead rest on Eric's chest. Calleigh could feel his heart beat through his shirt.

Eric gently kissed the top of Calleigh's head. Calleigh looked up and Eric's lips made contact with hers as he gently kissed her.

Calleigh was taken aback by the fact that Eric was kissing her. Eric slowly broke the kiss off and looked at Calleigh.

"Hey, are you alright?" Eric stared at Calleigh and waited for a response. When she didn't say anything, a small part of Eric panicked and he tried again. "Cal, talk to me."

Eric could see the color rising into Calleigh's face and Calleigh could feel her own face getting warmer. When Calleigh tried to duck her face and hide her blushing face, Eric caught her chin with his fingers and sent his lips crashing onto her again. Eric covered Calleigh's lips with his and sent his tongue crashing into her mouth. He could hear a small sound come from Calleigh, it could have been a protest, but Eric didn't care. Eric soon found that Calleigh wasn't protesting, when her tongue met his and she deepened the kiss.

Eric began to move his hands from the cabinet and Calleigh's face, around the to back of her body when Calleigh brought her hands up and gently pushed him away.

Eric smiled and looked away shyly. "Still embarrassed?"

"Yes." Calleigh said emphatically. "But I think I'll live." Calleigh stopped and smiled. Calleigh's smiles had the power to make Eric go weak in the knees, and this one definitely had that effect. "Eric, can I ask you a question, though?"

"Sure." Eric leaned in the steal one more kiss.

Calleigh giggled and tried talking, but it turned into mumbles with Eric's lips on hers. She finally swatted him away.

"Eric, why do you have pajama bottoms with conversation hearts on them?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Eric said smartly. He pulled Calleigh down off the counter in one movement. "It's a long story. Come on, our pancakes are getting cold."


	10. Return to Sender

**Sorry it's taken so long to get the next chapter up...there were four 20 page papers, a portfolio and a fundraiser to be planned...long story short, I was busy and now I'm not as busy. Sorry and enjoy!**

* * *

Halfway through eating her pancakes, the pounding in Calleigh's head subsided enough for her to remember that she was supposed to be at work and begin to panic. She had sprung up from the table, only to have Eric laugh, walk over to her and force her to sit back down.

Eric explained that he had called Horatio and told him that Calleigh wasn't feeling well. Calleigh had the day off and Eric didn't have to go in for another hour and a half.

About an hour later, Calleigh found herself showered, changed and headed home – though still feeling like her head might explode. Eric was dropping her off at her place on his way into work. Calleigh was still mortally embarrassed that Eric had called Horatio and told him that she wasn't feeling well. Calleigh rarely took a day off, let alone calling in sick. But she had to admit, after the pancakes, Calleigh was kind of looking forward to crawling back in bed and sleeping.

Eric noticed that Calleigh had been quiet in the car on the way to her place. He let her have her peace. Eric wanted so desperately to talk to her, make some kind of contact, and continue what he had started in his kitchen, but he had known Calleigh long enough to know that she needed a little space.

The car pulled to a stop in a parking space outside Calleigh's place, shaking both Calleigh and Eric out of their thoughts. Calleigh turned to Eric and smiled as she unbuckled her seat belt and began to open the door.

"Oh no you don't." Eric said, swatting Calleigh's hand away from the door handle.

"What? Ow!" Calleigh wasn't sure that Eric had heard her. He had leapt out of the car and was jogging around to her door. He paused, and gently opened Calleigh's door for her.

"Well, aren't you the gentleman?" Calleigh asked sweetly.

"I aim to please." Eric said with a grin. As Calleigh stepped out of the car, Eric walked beside her, walking her to her door. Calleigh smiled and shook her head, finally putting a hand on Eric's chest to stop him.

"Eric. You don't have to walk me to my door. I'm a big girl, I'll be okay. You're going to be late for work."

Eric placed his hand over Calleigh's and squeezed it. He let their hands drop to his side, but didn't let her hand go.

"Work will wait. Plus, it's what a gentleman does after a date."

Calleigh rolled her eyes, but didn't protest further. She was hung up on the word _date_. Last night when she suggested that they go out, she certainly hadn't intended it to be a date. It was just a night out with Eric. They had done that before and it had never been a date. But then again, she had never kissed Eric before either.

Just as Calleigh was warming up to the idea of being on a date with Eric, she realized that without thinking she had unlocked her door and let both she and Eric into her home. She looked up to see Eric standing just inside her doorway, by her dining room table, with his hands in his pockets, staring down at the floor.

Eric walked over and stood in front of Calleigh. At this very moment, he felt so ecstatic he felt as if he might be walking on air. Calleigh looked Eric straight in the eyes and smiled, making Eric's knees go weak.

"I've got to get to the lab." Eric said softly. He reached forward and grasped the back of Calleigh's head, pulling her closer. Eric gently placed his lips on Calleigh's. Usually Eric threw himself into kissing, but he was cautious with Calleigh. When he felt Calleigh lean into him, he knew he could throw caution to the wind.

Suddenly, Eric felt Calleigh tense up and stop moving. He focused his attention on Calleigh, only to see her staring past him over his shoulder. The color had drained from her face and the smile that Eric had seen just moments earlier had disappeared.

"Cal, what is it?" Eric asked. He turned his head to look behind him, but couldn't figure out what Calleigh was staring at.

"They weren't there yesterday." Calleigh whispered.

"What are you talking about, Calleigh?" Eric was confused and he was starting to worry about Calleigh's drastic mood swing.

"The flowers." Calleigh looked more pointedly over Eric's shoulder, indicating a vase of flowers sitting on her dining room table. "Those flowers weren't there last night when we left."

Eric turned around to see what Calleigh was talking about. There was indeed an arrangement of flowers sitting on the table. They looked familiar.

"Cal, those are the flowers you got at work the other day. Maybe you forgot that you brought them home." Eric offered. He stepped forward, trying to close the space between Calleigh and himself, but she stepped around him, closer to the flowers.

"Eric, I left those flowers at work. These are different." Calleigh tried to convince Eric. She walked forward and picked up the card that was perched between two of the flowers. "To Calleigh with love. We're meant to be together." Calleigh read out loud.

Eric instantly moved to Calleigh's side, putting an arm around her waist as if he were protecting her from something.

"Calleigh, who sent you the flowers at the lab?" Eric asked. He hoped that she couldn't hear the concern and panic in his voice.

"I don't know." Calleigh said. Eric could feel the shiver that went through Calleigh's body as she spoke. "He's been in my house Eric."

Eric knew exactly who Calleigh was talking about. It made him sick to think that someone wanted to hurt or scare Calleigh.

Calleigh shook Eric from his thoughts. "Eric. Someone's been in my house."

It didn't take more than a few seconds for Eric to come up with a list a people who would break into Calleigh's house to leave her flowers. Brian McMartin was at the top of Eric's list. Eric was already formulating a list in his head of ways to keep Calleigh safe and protect her. He knew that if Calleigh figured out what he was thinking about she would be livid, but Eric didn't care.

"Calleigh, I want you to go pack some of your things. Whatever you'll need for about a week. I'm calling Horatio." Eric nudged her towards her bedroom, willing Calleigh to leave the room before he called into the lab.

Calleigh went into her bedroom and shoved some clothes and toiletries into an overnight bag. She couldn't keep her CSI instincts from kicking in as she surveyed the room, examining every inch to see if anything was out of place.

Walking numbly back into the living room, Calleigh heard Eric finishing up his conversation with Horatio.

"Yeah, I'll process what I can and bring it back to the lab. We've got to get him, H. He's…" Eric stopped when he saw Calleigh. "Hey, I'll catch you later." Eric flipped his phone shut and walked over to Calleigh.

"Here. Take this." Eric said, pressing something into Calleigh's hand. Calleigh squinted her eyes in confusion and looked down into her palm.

"Eric…" Calleigh began to protest.

"It's my house key. Drive yourself back to my place. Watch TV, listen to music, sleep, eat everything in my fridge…you just can't stay here." Eric sounded genuinely concerned. There was no way that Eric was going to let anything happen to Calleigh.

When Calleigh didn't say anything, Eric began to worry. "Calleigh? Cal, talk to me."

"God, Eric, I'm just…" Calleigh paused, not knowing how to go on. "I don't know…angry that I'm being victimized, embarrassed that I can't take care of myself, scared even…. I just want…" Calleigh couldn't go on.

Seeing her struggle with this, upset Eric. He felt the sudden urge to hold her and protect her. Eric protectively wrapped an arm around Calleigh and pulled her close. Calleigh closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest, listening to the constant thud of his heart through his shirt. They seemed to stand that way for an eternity, though it was only close to a minute. Calleigh pulled away, and it seemed to Eric that she had taken some of his strength with her.

"Thank you." Calleigh said, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss Eric lightly on the cheek. "I'll see you at your place."

Eric watched Calleigh take her things and walk out the door. He heard her car start and watched it pull out of the parking lot. Feeling a small wave of relief wash over him and knowing that Calleigh was headed somewhere safe, Eric walked out to his car and returned to Calleigh's dining room with his kit.

"Alright. Show me what you've got." Eric said to no one in particular as he dusted for prints and collected the flowers to take back to the lab.


	11. Cross Contamination

"Eric. What's in the bag?" Horatio's voice echoed through the lab as he nodded his head towards the large paper bag Eric was holding.

"The flowers from Calleigh's house." Eric replied.

"Very good. What else did you find?" Horatio asked. Eric thought he could hear an extra amount of concern in his voice.

"I lifted some prints and I found some dirt on the floor." Eric paused, juggling the things his hands with his kit. "I just dropped the prints off to be run and I'm meeting Ryan in trace."

"Good. Keep me informed." Horatio said as he turned to walk away.

Eric walked into trace, nearly dropping everything in his hands. He looked across the lab to see Ryan bent over a computer.

"Hey, man. How's Calleigh?" Ryan asked, looking up.

Suddenly Eric's breath caught in his chest as his mind kicked into overdrive. What was he supposed to say? He had kissed Calleigh this morning. Hell, he had undressed her last night. Were they dating? Was it a one night stand? Eric knew that he cared about Calleigh, but what about her? Why did Ryan want to know? What did Ryan know?

"Why?" Eric asked skeptically.

"Just wondering. Someone's stalking her and broke into her house to leave her flowers. I figured you'd know how she was, considering you processed her house." Ryan stated.

Eric exhaled the breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. Simple curiosity and concern…those were Ryan's reasons for asking. Eric walked over to the desk that Ryan was sitting at, while mentally noting that he should check on Calleigh and eventually have "the talk".

"She's fine. She's at my place." Eric said as Ryan turned his attention back to the computer. "She wasn't taking this guy seriously. I hope this changes things."

"Well, what've you got?" Ryan asked, nodding towards the evidence.

"Not a lot." Eric conceded. "The flowers don't look like they came from a florist, so there's no lead there to track down. I collected some dirt from Calleigh's floor…"

"And we know it didn't come from Calleigh." Ryan laughed, thinking about how meticulously clean she could be.

"Exactly. I need to get it to trace and see if anything interesting comes up." Eric said.

An hour later, Eric had identified the prints from Calleigh's house to three people – Calleigh, himself and Brian McMartin. The results didn't surprise him. Pouring over the evidence for what seemed like the fiftieth time, Eric was startled by his phone. Looking down at the text message that came through, he could see that Ryan needed him in the trace lab.

Eric almost skipped into the lab, hoping that Ryan had the break they needed.

"Ryan, tell me you've got some good news." Eric said, pulling up a stool next to Ryan.

"So, the dirt you collected at Calleigh's house had high level of ammonium and hydrolyzed nitrogen." Ryan said enthusiastically.

"Okay…" Eric said, waiting for Ryan to clarify things.

"I went back to the Bayside crime scene and found trace amounts of dirt with the same chemicals there too." Ryan continued.

"Ryan, I'm waiting for you to explain this all to me." Eric said, gesturing with his hands for Ryan to clarify his findings.

"Well, ammonium and hydrolyzed nitrogen are being used in large quantities in experimental fertilizer trials." Ryan explained.

"So, maybe our guy works with or transports fertilizer? He tracked it into the crime scene and Calleigh's." Eric wondered out loud. "We need to find out where they're experimenting with this stuff around here."

"I've got some people working on it." Ryan offered.

"Thanks man." Eric said. "I'm going to go out and grab something to eat. Meet you back here later?"

"Sure thing." Ryan said, walking towards the break room.

Eric walked by the vending machine sandwiches, and pulled out his cell phone. He hit speed dial #3 and waited while the phone rang.

"Hi. It's me." Eric said sheepishly into the phone, trying to tell himself that this phone conversation wasn't like every other one he had ever had. "I've got some time off. I thought we could grab lunch."

Eric began walking quicker with a spring in his step as his conversation continued. The minute he reached his car, he jumped in and sped away.


	12. Quiche, Kiss and Tell

"Calleigh?" Eric called out as he walked into his condo.

"Back here." Calleigh's voice rang out from Eric's bedroom.

Eric's heart skipped a beat involuntarily as he thought about where she was.

"Hey." Calleigh said cheerfully as she emerged into the living room. He hair was wet and pulled into a sloppy ponytail. She was barefoot and had on jeans and a tank top. "I wanted to take a shower before you came home. I went for a run on the beach and I felt…"

Calleigh stopped before finishing her thought. She could tell by the look on Eric's face that he disapproved of her leaving his house. Eric was about to say so, when Calleigh cut him off.

"Eric Delko, don't say it."

"Say what?" Eric asked, attempting to sound like Calleigh hadn't just read his mind.

"Don't you dare tell me that it was dangerous to go out for a run. I'm not a child. I don't need you or anyone else telling me what to do."

Eric could tell from the tone of Calleigh's voice how defensive she was getting, and while he wanted to point out that there _was_ a murderer stalking her, he decided to drop the conversation. This was done almost unwillingly as Eric took time to smell the aromas in his apartment.

Calleigh watched Eric's emotions change. She smiled as Eric relaxed and suddenly focused on the smells coming from the kitchen. Leave it to a guy to be swayed by his stomach, Calleigh thought with a chuckle.

"God, Calleigh. What smells?" Eric asked. The minute Eric closed his mouth he realized he should have add _so good_ to the end of his question.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, you can go back to work." Calleigh said, punching Eric in the arm.

Eric caught Calleigh's hand and held it for a moment in his. Calleigh jumped a little at the contact, smiled and pulled away after a few seconds.

Calleigh sighed, laughed and smiled all at the same time. "Go sit down." Calleigh directed, motioning to a chair.

"What did you make me?" Eric asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"I made _us_ quiche, chicken salad, fruit and dessert." Calleigh said, her smile proving her pride in her creation.

As Calleigh set the food down on the table, Eric sat motionless, simply looking from the food to Calleigh and back to the food again.

"You're trying to drive me crazy aren't you?" Eric said. Eric dropped his head to his hands and ran them over his temples. He head meant for those words to stay in his head. A broad, embarrassed smile spread across his face as he looked up to see Calleigh's reaction. She was staring at him. Smiling.

"Is it working?" She asked coyly.

Eric decided to ignore the question, not wanting to admit that everything Calleigh did drove him crazy in one way or another.

"Where did this come from?" Eric asked. He was hoping that Calleigh hadn't spent her morning our shopping.

"Well, Eric, some people simply look in the refrigerator and find food there." Calleigh replied, Eric picked up on the sarcasm in her voice and knew that it was playfully meant for him.

"You found this in my fridge?" Eric was shocked to say the least. It had been days, possibly even over a week since he had been to the store to buy food. And even if he had been to the store lately, the food he was looking at wasn't something you would find in his condo.

"Well, it's not like I opened your refrigerator and a quiche just jumped in to my hands. I had to make it." Calleigh shook her head in humored disbelief. She kept talking before Eric could start. "And, yes, before you say anything I _can_ cook. I am a very good cook for your information. Just don't get used to it."

"I'm not complaining." Eric said, putting his hands up in front of his to prove his point.

By the time lunch was finished, Eric and Calleigh had fallen into quiet conversations about inconsequential things. They were both enjoying the other's company. Calleigh noticed that Eric had finished and got up from the table to clear their plates. Watching Calleigh take the plates to the sink, Eric found his legs moving and himself getting up and following Calleigh into the kitchen. As Eric came up in back of her, Calleigh dropped the plates into the sink, turned around and stared at Eric.

Before he really knew what he was doing and before Calleigh could figure out what was going on, Eric put his hands on Calleigh's hips and pulled her closer. He leaned in slightly; as he brought his face closer to hers he kissed her gently. Eric could feel Calleigh's body lean into his and he leaned in for another, more intense kiss. Calleigh knew what was coming, and letting her mind win over what her body wanted, she gently put a hand on Eric's chest to stop him from coming closer.

When Calleigh didn't start explaining immediately and instead looked down at Eric's shoes, Eric felt the need to break the silence.

"I'm sorry." Eric said. Calleigh looked up at him and he could tell she was going to ask what he was apologizing for, so he continued. "I'm sorry for kissing you. I understand if it's….unwanted."

Calleigh took a deep breath. "Don't be."

Calleigh's words came as a mild surprise to Eric. He had expected her to throw her walls back up and push him away. Eric smiled and pulled Calleigh a bit closer to him.

"But," Calleigh said. "I worried that….It's just that…I don't want this to happen because of some insane idea that you have where you have to protect everyone in the world."

"Calleigh," Eric said warmly, brushing a piece of hair out of her face and behind her ear, "I can assure you that I don't feel all crazy and protective of you. Okay, well maybe a little, but it's because you mean so much to me. This morning, making pancakes with you, was one of the best mornings of my life. I don't want anything from you, except for you to know how I feel. Trust me."

"I do." Calleigh said. Eric almost didn't hear it.

Calleigh smiled. It was the genuine smile that Calleigh knew had the power to melt Eric's heart and make him go weak in the knees. This time, Calleigh sent her lips crashing into Eric's and her entire body, too. Eric, caught off guard, stumbled back a step, but wrapped his arms around Calleigh so as not to lose her. This kiss wasn't gentle or playful as the others had been, but forceful and aggressive. Eric grabbed the back of Calleigh's thighs in his hands and lifted her onto the counter, Calleigh wrapping her legs around his waist, so that they were closer.

Taking her lips off of Eric's momentarily, Calleigh mumbled, "What about dessert?"

Eric laughed. "I'm okay with this."

* * *

Eric and Calleigh were disturbed by Eric's ringing cell phone. They both jumped apart, as if someone had walked in on them, causing Eric to fall off the couch and hit the coffee table with a loud thud.

"Oh my God." Eric groaned. "It's Ryan. I should have been back at the lab close to an hour ago."

Calleigh giggled and played with Eric's hair for a moment. She left Eric to talk to Ryan and got up to walk back into the kitchen, picking up discarded pieces of clothing and look for her tank top. Finally finding it, she slipped it back on and quickly finished the dishes in the sink. Calleigh heard Eric finish his call with Ryan and walked over to him.

Eric rubbed the spot on his arm where he was sure the coffee table would leave a bruise and looked up at Calleigh. He was caught off guard by his shirt hitting him square in the face, with a little more force than he thought Calleigh would have used.

"Hey." Eric protested playfully.

"Well, you're going to need it. Horatio won't let you come back to work without a shirt on. He'll frown at you all day."

"Cute, Cal." Eric got up and walked closer to Calleigh. "Ryan's got a lead in our case. I need to get back." Eric said, more seriously.

"Great." Calleigh said, surprising Eric by turning around and walking away from him. "I'm coming with you."

"No, Cal. I don't think so." Eric protested.

"Eric. I'm fine. I feel much better. Especially considering that I've had such a wonderful doctor." Calleigh said, batting her eyes at Eric.

"Yeah, we should play doctor more often." Eric boasted under his breath, however not low enough that Calleigh couldn't hear him.

"Eric!" Calleigh said, rolling her eyes.

"You still shouldn't come into work." Eric explained. "You're out _sick_, remember?"

"I'm sure Horatio won't mind, Eric. I've got lots of stuff to run and finish up in ballistics. I would've been down there practically all day if I had gone in. Come on, Eric. No offence, but I'm bored here. I'm going in to play with the guns. You can't stop me." Calleigh walked defiantly away from Eric and slipped on her shoes and grabbed a lightweight jacket to go over her tank top. She knew that she had Eric wrapped around her little finger and that Eric knew that she would drive herself to the lab if he didn't.

"Okay. You win." Eric said with a smile, knowing that he didn't stand a chance in this argument.

"I love it when you say that!" Calleigh said cheerfully, opening the door and waiting for Eric to walk out with her.


	13. Ryan's Girl

"Ok Ryan, talk to me." Eric said as he walked into the layout room.

"I saw Calleigh walk by. She feeling better?" Ryan asked, ignoring Eric's question.

Eric was growing impatient. He wanted to hear about Ryan's lead. He wanted to catch this creep. He wanted to get back to Calleigh.

"Did you have anything to do with her speedy recovery?" Ryan asked. He had a glint in his eye and was doing his best to look up at Eric and look down at the evidence all at the same time.

Eric shook his head and rolled his eyes. "What are we, Wolfe, back in high school? Let's get to work."

"I'm just saying. You come back from lunch an hour late, with Calleigh and looking a little…well rumpled. I think I'm entitled to ask." As Ryan finished talking he noticed the annoyed look on Eric's face. Realizing that he should drop the subject, he started sharing his ideas about the case. "So, while you were _at lunch_ I took some time to look over all the evidence again. I realized that I had never actually looked at the flowers that you found at Calleigh's."

"Yeah? So? I've dusted them, tested them, everything. I keep coming to a dead end with the flowers." Eric added.

"Yeah, well when I looked at them I thought they looked familiar." Ryan said. He walked over and took the vase of flowers out of the brown evidence bag. Walking back over to the layout table, he placed the flowers in front of Eric.

"They're the same as the ones that Calleigh got here at the lab." Eric said, feeling that he was stating the obvious.

"I know that, but that's not what I mean. Look at the middle of the flowers." Ryan bent over and pointed to one of the flowers sticking out of the vase. "Look inside towards the stigma. What do you see?"

Ryan moved out of the way while Eric bent over and looked deep into the flower. Eric had to admit that it looked like a normal flower to him. Whatever evidence Ryan thought he had here, Eric seemed to be missing. As frustrating as it was to have Ryan be able to do something that he couldn't, Eric pushed past the feeling and looked on.

"I don't see anything, man. Other than the fact that all the other irises I've ever seen are yellow on the inside and this one is red, I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at." Eric said with a sigh as he stood back up.

"That's exactly it!" Ryan exclaimed. "It's a different color and if you look really close, you'll see that the red parts tend to form small hearts on the petals closer to the ovule."

Eric bent over and looked again, finding that Ryan was right.

"Well I'll add this to the list." Eric said with a grin.

Ryan looked at him, puzzled, and shook his head to show that he didn't understand.

"Our list of experts. Calleigh's our resident ballistics expert, I'm the diving and car expert, and now we have Ryan Wolfe…flower expert!" Eric had to stop himself from laughing so he could finish. "Seriously, man. How do you know so much about flowers?"

If Eric hadn't been paying attention he wouldn't have seen the color rush to Ryan's face and Ryan turn away quickly to try and conceal it. Ryan was staring at his shoes and smiling when Eric pressed further.

"So?" Eric asked.

"There's this girl I've been dating…" Ryan started.

"Wow, Wolfe, I didn't think you were capable of getting a girl." Eric said, slapping Ryan on the back.

"Ha ha. Very funny Delko. She's a graduate student at Miami University. She's doing some type of genetic cloning of flowers. She had been on me for weeks to come over to her greenhouse to see her plants. Some about a week or two ago I let her give me a tour. Who knew that she would get so turned on by the idea of…well…in the greenhouse…" Ryan paused, his face getting redder by the second.

"You dog." Eric exclaimed. Today he had a whole new respect for Ryan Wolfe. "You deflowered her in the flowers!"

"Anyway," Ryan said, choosing to ignore Eric's remark. "These are the flowers she grows. I recognize them now. Which is good, since I have seen them up close and personal."

"How do we know this is our place?" Eric asked skeptically.

"Because there are only two places, really two universities in the country working on these flowers – Miami University and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. And unless our suspect has been traveling to and from Alaska to get flowers, these came from Miami University."

"I have a newfound respect for you, man." Eric said. "Let's go see your girl about some flowers."

Eric walked out of the layout room, leaving Ryan to chase him and follow.

* * *

"Oh my god, Ryan! How sweet!"

The first thing Eric noticed was that it was at least twenty degrees hotter in the greenhouse that he and Ryan were standing in than it was outside. The second thing he noticed was that there was a squealing girl running towards Ryan and jumping into his arms. Eric could tell that Ryan was embarrassed by the way he was trying to shrink into floor. He thought it was funny…and a little cute. Who knew that Ryan Wolfe could have a girlfriend that would be this into him?

"You came to visit me at work! That's so nice. I never would have expected this!" The girl said into Ryan's ear, though loud enough for Eric to hear, as she jumped up and hugged Ryan.

Ryan all but pushed her away. He hugged her back quickly, but it was obvious that this was an uncomfortable situation for him.

"Um, Haley, uh this is Eric Delko. We work together." Ryan stuttered, trying to salvage the scene and get back to work. "Eric, this is Haley, my uh…"

"Girlfriend." Haley finished.

Eric and Haley exchanged pleasantries.

"Haley, Ryan tells me you work with flowers. Something with cloning and irises." Eric said, getting into work mode.

"Yeah. That's what my graduate research is on. We're working on making new hybrid models of irises that withstand different climactic changes so that we can apply the cloning techniques to other species of plants. Are you interested in the research?" Haley asked.

"We are." Eric said. Eric took some of the irises from Calleigh's house out of the evidence bag and handed them to Haley. "Tell me, do you recognize these?"

"Yes. These are the irises we grow here in the greenhouse. But they're not for the public. Where did you get them?" Haley asked, glancing from Eric to Ryan confusedly.

"Haley, the flowers were left at a crime scene and we're trying to find a suspect." Ryan said, attempting to clear things up for Haley. "Take a look at this picture, do you recognize this man?"

Ryan pulled out a picture of Brian McMartin and handed it to Haley. She hadn't had it in her hands more than a few seconds when she locked her eyes with Ryan's.

"This is Brian!" Haley exclaimed.

"You know him?" Eric said.

"Yeah. He works here in the greenhouse. He runs the greenhouse and supervises the care of the plants for the different labs." Haley explained.

"Do you know where he is now?" Eric asked, the anticipation and expectancy showed in his voice.

"He's out on vacation for the next day or two. I think he's supposed to be back tomorrow."

"Thanks." Eric said. He turned and walked away from Ryan and Haley, opening his phone to call into the station and request a patrol car to be stationed outside the greenhouse.

When Eric turned around he saw the last part of a quick kiss between Ryan and Haley. Ryan said something quietly to Haley and walked over to Eric. As the two walked out of the greenhouse, back into the cooler, clearer air and to the Hummer Ryan broke the silence.

"I told Haley to stick to the lab for the next few days and avoid the greenhouse." Ryan said.

"That's smart." Eric said casually. "So, that's your girlfriend, huh?"

"Yes. That's Haley." Ryan said, running one hand idly through his hair before looking up at Eric.

"She seems nice man." Eric said with a genuine smile. As they got into the car, Eric settled back down to business. "I called H and Tripp and asked them to station someone here to watch for McMartin. We can pick him up when he comes back to work."

"Sounds good. I'm ready to wrap this case up." Ryan admitted.

"Me too. Me too." Eric agreed.


	14. Shutdown

It had been an hour or two since Eric and Ryan had come back from Miami University. Ryan walked through the lab, his eyes darting back and forth. He was walking quickly and looking in every nook and cranny for someone or something. He was looking so intently he almost didn't see Eric before running into him.

"Whoa, man." Eric exclaimed, holding his hands up in front of him in order to keep Ryan from plowing him over. "You gotta watch where you're going." Eric added with a chuckle.

"Sorry, Eric. Hey, have you seen Horatio?"

Eric shook his head. "No, he's in court. He'll be back in an hour or so."

Eric thought Ryan was acting weird, even for Ryan. He kept shifting back and forth on his feet, his eyes kept searching everywhere and now Ryan looked as if he were struggling with whether or not to tell Eric some earth-shattering secret.

"Ryan, what's going on?" Eric asked in a lower tone.

Ryan sighed and instantly became still. He paused a few second before answering, as if he were trying to figure out exactly how to say it. "Calleigh's scaring me."

"Calleigh always scares people." Eric said with a chuckle. "What's new?"

"No, Eric. I think there's a problem. She's…she's…"

"Where is she?" Eric's voice was suddenly serious and filled with anxiety and concern.

"In the locker room."

"I'll take care of it." Eric said quietly. Ryan nodded, seeming somewhat relieve.

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Get Alexx for me?"

Eric didn't wait for a reply from Ryan. He took off in the direction of the locker room. It didn't take him long to get there. At the door he stopped. With one hand on the door as if he were going to open it, Eric froze. He didn't know what he was going to find. Maybe Ryan had been exaggerating and Eric overreacted. Maybe everything was fine and Calleigh had simply been giving Ryan a hard time. But, maybe not. Eric took a deep breath and exhaled as he walked through the door.

Eric walked into the locker room and froze. Calleigh was sitting on the floor, wedged in between her locker and a bench. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her hair was hanging lifelessly around her face as she stared down at her feet. Her eyes were glazed over.

"Calleigh?" Eric said, taking a few tentative steps towards her. When she didn't answer, he tried again.

"Cal? Cal?" Eric continued to talk quietly as he approached Calleigh and knelt down to her level. "Ryan's was worried about you, and I am to. Calleigh?"

Calleigh still hadn't moved or even acknowledged that Eric was in the same room as she was. When Eric noticed how pale she was, his eyes searched frantically to find out why. Unable to find anything physically wrong, Eric's eyes settled on an envelope lying just next to Calleigh on the floor. As Eric got closer to Calleigh he picked it up in one hand.

"Hey, Calleigh." Eric said again, desperately hoping that if he said her name enough, she would come out of the fog she seemed to be in. "What's going on?"

Eric was running out of options. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know what else to say to bring her around.

Calleigh murmured something. Something Eric couldn't make out.

"Cal, what did you say?" Eric hoped the fear didn't show in his voice.

"I broke it." Calleigh's voice was no louder than a faint whisper. "And he was here."

Eric finally began breathing again when Calleigh finished speaking. She still hadn't moved and she still looked pale and withdrawn, but at least she was talking. Nothing that Calleigh had said made sense to Eric. Eric thought about asking her what she had meant, but stopped when he looked again at Calleigh's face. What Eric saw broke his heart in so many ways. A single tear was slowly rolling down Calleigh's cheek.

Eric was torn. He wanted to know exactly what Calleigh was talking about, but at the same time he wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. Eric hesitantly reached out to wrap his arms around Calleigh and pull her to him. The moment Eric's body made contact with hers, Calleigh's body went rigid and she flinched.

Pulling away immediately, Eric dropped his head to his hand and rubbed his forehead. It was only then that Eric noticed the envelope that he had been holding on to. Keeping one eye on Calleigh, he cautiously opened it. A photograph fluttered to the floor. Calleigh jumped as the photo impacted the floor and turned away. Eric picked it up, staring at the two happy people smiling at the camera – Calleigh and his suspect, Brian McMartin.

"God, Calleigh…He was here…I'm…" Eric couldn't seem to string together an entire sentence. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a mix of concern and anger.

"Eric?" Eric turned towards the voice. A look of disappointment played across his face as he realized it was Alexx saying his name and not Calleigh.

"Alexx." Eric took one last look at Calleigh, who still hadn't moved, and stood up to walk over to Alexx. "She won't move. She won't talk to me. But he was here Alexx. The guy was here. I need to take this to the lab, but I don't want her to be alone."

Alexx held up a hand to stop Eric.

"You go honey. I'll stay. Come back when you're ready to take her home." Alexx smiled warmly, and walked over to Calleigh.

As Eric walked out of the locker room he could hear Alexx talking to Calleigh in the background.

To Eric it seemed to take forever to get the envelope and picture to Ryan to process and leave Horatio a message to explain why he and Calleigh were leaving. When Eric returned to the locker room, he was surprised to find it empty. Panic passed through him momentarily at the thought of Calleigh disappearing before his eyes, until his phone rang.

Alexx spoke softly on the other side of the phone.

"She finally came around enough to get up off the floor. I took her out the back and she's waiting in your car. You need to take her home, Eric."

Eric smiled, he had already been planning the same thing.

"Not a problem Alexx, I'll be there in a minute."

"Eric?" Alexx could hear Eric's footsteps echo from the floor through the phone.

"Yeah?"

"This isn't our Calleigh, Eric. I'm worried. She said something about breaking something. But she won't say anything more. Don't force her to talk. Just be there for her."

"I know, Alexx."

Eric was happy to finally be home. The car had been painfully quiet. The only time Calleigh had spoken in the car was the beginning of a protest when Eric drove past her street and headed to his own apartment. All the way home, Eric's eyes had strayed to the passenger seat where Calleigh was sitting. She looked pale and fragile. Eric had wanted to reach over and touch her. To tell her that everything would be okay. The truth was, he wasn't so sure if that was true.

When the car stopped, Calleigh got out. Her feet didn't seem to want to move from their place on the asphalt next to Eric's car. Her mind seemed jumbled. There were too many thoughts flying around in her head. Calleigh just couldn't make her mind and body function.

Suddenly, Calleigh felt a hand on hers. She knew it was Eric's, she could feel him standing close to her. Her mind screamed to her that normally this was too close, but she couldn't focus on what her mind was saying. Calleigh's fingers wove their way around Eric's and she felt him squeeze her hand.

Calleigh allowed herself to be led, like a child, into Eric's apartment. Eric had taken her straight to his bedroom. He left Calleigh alone in the room, offering her a sweatshirt and some shorts of his in case she wanted to change. When Eric came back, he found Calleigh curled up on his bed, still in her clothes, and curled up around his Miami University sweatshirt. He placed some tea on the table beside her.

"You should get some rest." Eric assured Calleigh. Her back was turned to him and he couldn't see her face. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

Eric prayed that she would. That Calleigh would say something, or would ask him to stay. But the silence prevailed and Eric backed quietly out of the room.

Out in his living room, Eric tried reading the paper. He flipped through the channels on the TV. After a while, Eric was restless and worried. Eric stood up and walked as quietly as possible to his bedroom, opening the door a crack to check on Calleigh. She was still curled on his side, eyes open.

Eric sighed and walked in. Calleigh had heard the door open and then felt the bed sag next to her. She could smell Eric's scent and feel his body heat as he laid down next to her. Suddenly Eric's hands were in Calleigh's hair. At first, the move startled Calleigh, her body tensing up at his contact. But Calleigh found the circles he was drawing on her neck soothing. She rolled over to face him and buried her head in the nape of Eric's neck.

Eric was a little taken aback by Calleigh's move. In response he wrapped both arms around her protectively and pulled her closer. Slowly he could feel her body begin to shake with each tear that escaped her eyes and made their way to his shirt. Eric knew it took a lot to rattle Calleigh Duquesne. For a while there, he was pretty sure that Calleigh never cried.

Eric held on tighter and tighter, rubbing small circles on her back. As Calleigh's sobs began to subside, Eric could feel her relax in his arms and he relaxed a bit too. Soon he heard he breathing even out and he knew that she was asleep. Eric felt Calleigh's body melt into his as she snuggled closer, and before he knew it he had fallen asleep too.


	15. Baring Your Soul

Calleigh awoke to the distinct feeling of being smothered. It felt like she had an immense weight holding her body down and it was hard to breathe. Calleigh's first instinct was to panic, but when she opened her eyes she simply had to laugh at herself. Calleigh realized that the weight smothering her was Eric. He was laying half on top of her, with the rest of her body safely tucked beside him. Calleigh's head was still tucked into Eric's neck, but his massive arm was spread protectively over her body.

"Eric." Calleigh said quietly. When her quiet words garnered no response, Calleigh tried again. "Eric!"

"Huh?"

"You're smothering me."

Eric pried his eyes open and realized where his body was exactly. The first thing he saw was a mass of blonde hair in front of him. Then he looked down just a bit to see Calleigh's eyes staring up at him. Eric was so comfortable he didn't want to move, but as he slowly regained feeling in his limbs he realized that his arms were wrapped around Calleigh's waist and his legs were twisted up with hers.

Eric smiled lazily. He took a deep breath and along with the air he was breathing he took in a smell that was distinctly Calleigh. Eric was enjoying himself. Eric was brought out of his short moment of enjoyment by Calleigh's voice.

"Eric!" Calleigh narrowed her eyes as she wriggled a bit, trying to disentangle herself from Eric.

Suddenly, yesterday's events flooded back into Eric's mind and he remembered exactly why Calleigh had ended up in his bed. Eric's lazy smile faded slightly and was replaced with an expression that showed more concern.

"Hey." Eric said softly, smiling down at Calleigh. He brushed a stray piece of hair away from her eyes. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks. However, I'd be better if I could move my legs." Calleigh said lightly, glancing down at how her legs were wrapped up in Eric's.

"Oh, sorry." Eric said.

Calleigh could swear that she saw Eric blush. But as soon as he finished talking, Eric quickly untangled his legs and slid off of the bed.

"I'll make us some breakfast." Eric offered, pausing at the door and turning to look at Calleigh. "You can take a shower if you want."

Eric walked out of the bedroom without saying anything more, and busied himself in the kitchen.

Calleigh slowly crept out of Eric's bed and headed for the shower. The hot water streaming down Calleigh's back didn't seem to be doing much to dissolve the tension she could feel in her back or the pounding in her head.

Calleigh brushed her hair and left it hanging down loose. She put on a pair of jeans and Eric's sweatshirt. As she walked out of the bedroom into the living room, she couldn't help but smile at Eric. He was sitting on the couch, a plate of eggs, bacon and toast in front of him and his eyes on Sports Center. Calleigh noticed another plate just beside him on the coffee table. She assumed that this food was meant for her.

Sitting down next to Eric, Calleigh pushed her food around on her plate, before eating a little to make Eric happy. Half listening to Sports Center, Calleigh waited for Eric to bring up the inevitable.

"I think we should talk about what happened yesterday." Eric said.

Eric was surprised that Calleigh didn't seem offended that he had wasted no time jumping into the conversation. In reality, she had never expected him to tiptoe around the subject; Calleigh had almost half expected Eric to force her to talk about it last night. She was sure that curiosity and concern were probably killing Eric right now.

"There's really not a lot to talk about." Calleigh said, avoiding eye contact with Eric. She knew that if she looked up she would see how uneasy he was and exactly how much he cared. She just couldn't take that right now.

"Cal. Talk to me. It's not like you to go into an emotional tailspin." Eric scooted back against the arm of the couch and reached out to pull Calleigh up against him, cradling her body in his. Calleigh was relieved that her back was to his chest, knowing that Eric wanted her to be close without forcing her to be too close. Eric's cheek brushed up against Calleigh's.

"I was scared last night." Eric admitted quietly.

Eric absent-mindedly took Calleigh's hands in his, rubbing them and holding them close. Calleigh appreciated this more than Eric would ever know, considering her hands had just begun to shake slightly.

"When I say that there's not a lot to talk about, I'm not trying to avoid the question, there's just really not a lot to talk about." Calleigh paused and took a deep breath. Eric could feel her back and shoulders become tenser. He simply held her tighter. "I was in the layout room looking at your evidence. I know I shouldn't have been in there. But I couldn't help it. I had to know how close you were to closing the case. I wasn't thinking and I picked the vase up out of the evidence bag."

Calleigh could feel Eric take a breath in order to say something. She could feel his worry and knew what he was about to say.

"Before you say it, yes I know…I could loose my job for that. I just wasn't thinking. It was like I was on autopilot. I didn't really have control of what I was doing. It had been no more than 30 to 45 seconds, but before I could put it back in the bag my cell phone rang. My phone startled me and I panicked. I dropped the vase and it shattered." Calleigh stopped and took a deep breath.

Eric could hear the pain in her voice. He wished it were him instead of her. Calleigh didn't deserve this. Reaching around her, Eric swept Calleigh's hair around her neck and to one side as he gently kissed her on the cheek. He was about to say something, when Calleigh began speaking again.

"The phone call was from my dad. I never answered it. I was so upset about the vase that I ran straight to the locker room." Calleigh paused, her voice shaking. "When I opened my locker I found the picture. I've been lying to you. I never thought I was completely safe. But I never thought that Brian would talk me in the lab. It was all too much. I just remember sitting down on the floor, crying and then you. I remember you finding me."

Calleigh closed her eyes and leaned back against Eric. She liked the way he felt behind her – warm, strong, protective.

Calleigh and Eric sat like that, just enjoying the each other's presence, for what seemed like an eternity. A while later, Eric gently turned Calleigh around to look at him.

"Cal. I need to tell you something." Eric said, looking into Calleigh's eyes.

Eric's sudden serious tone made Calleigh nervous. She looked at him, narrowing her eyes and preparing herself for what he had to say.

"Last night, while you were asleep, you dad called." Eric stopped to gauge Calleigh's reaction so far. He decided to keep talking before she could object. "I only checked your caller ID to make sure it wasn't Horatio or dispatch. When I saw it was your dad, I went ahead and answered it. I didn't want him endangering himself or others because he couldn't get in touch with you. He was at the same bar and needed to get home. I picked him up and got him to his door."

Calleigh simply stared at Eric, taking in the story. Eric couldn't read Calleigh's expression. It was almost blank. Knowing that Calleigh was an incredibly private and guarded person, Eric was completely prepared for her to be angry with him for invading her privacy.

"I can't believe you." Calleigh said flatly and almost so softly that Eric couldn't hear.

"Cal…" Eric said, attempting to stop her argument before it had a chance to get started.

Eric couldn't finish, though. Calleigh's lips were instantly upon his. After Eric realized that Calleigh was kissing him, his hand snaked behind her neck and pulled her in closer. After a moment, Calleigh pulled away enough to be able to get words out that would be audible.

"I can't believe you would do that." Calleigh said. She was near tears. She cared about Eric and from recent events had been able to tell that Eric cared about her too, but it wasn't until now that she realized how far Eric was willing to go to look after her. "You didn't have to. You should have been sleeping, but instead you're taking care of my father."

A single tear escaped Calleigh's eye and rolled down her cheek. Calleigh looked down, a wave of shame rushing over her. She had been incapacitated enough to be unable to take care of her responsibilities, and Eric had been nice enough to get sucked into her mess of a family. Eric put his fingers gently under her chin and lifted it up, helping Calleigh's eyes to meet his. He used his thumb to brush away the tear and smiled at Calleigh.

"I'd do it again. Because by taking care of him, I was taking care of you." Eric leaned in and softly kissed Calleigh to reiterate his words.

"I was wondering where you were last night." Calleigh said, finally allowing her lips to curve upward towards a smile.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked, genuinely confused.

"I rolled over and you weren't there. The bed was empty. I was unnerved for a moment, but then I knew that you'd never _really_ leave and that you'd be back." Calleigh explained.

"I'll always be here for you." Eric assured Calleigh. "Now. Finish your breakfast. It's getting cold."

Calleigh laughed – a real laugh. "What is it about you and food?" Calleigh asked.

"Calleigh, I'm a guy. It's always about food. Now eat, so I know that you won't waster away and disappear while I'm at the lab." Eric said with a smile.


	16. The Second Lie

Eric was getting ready to go in to work. He was having reservations about leaving Calleigh alone for the day. While yesterday's episode seemed to be in the past, Eric knew that Calleigh was anything but okay. Eric and Calleigh had talked and cuddled on the couch all morning, their breakfasts sitting untouched and now cold.

Eric could hear Calleigh in the kitchen cleaning up the untouched breakfast dishes in the kitchen while he was getting dressed in his bedroom. Eric was buttoning his shirt when Calleigh appeared in the door, leaning against the frame.

"Eric, I really need to thank you again for taking care of my dad last night." Calleigh said softly.

Eric paused his buttoning and turned to face Calleigh. "Cal, I already told you it was no problem. He didn't even seem to surprised to see me."

Eric watched Calleigh for a moment. She was playing idly with the hem of the shirt she had on, not looking up to meet Eric's eyes.

"Calleigh. What is it?" Eric asked with a sigh. He suddenly realized that sighing made him seem exasperated, and wasn't surprised by the look of shock that washed over Calleigh's face as she looked up.

"Did you mention anything to my dad? You know, last night. It's just that I wouldn't want to worry him over nothing." Calleigh said, standing up straight in the doorway and taking a few steps into the room.

Eric could feel his shoulders tighten and a knot form in his stomach. It made him angry when Calleigh referred to this catastrophe as nothing. She was in danger and he couldn't always protect her, but Calleigh didn't seem to take it as seriously as he did – even now after what happened at the lab yesterday. Her flippant tone caused the anger to boil in Eric, though he did his best to keep it inside.

The knot inside his stomach was there for different reasons, though. Eric thought back to his conversation with Calleigh's drunken father the night before.

"_Where my little lambchop?" Kenwall Duquesne asked._

"_Sir, she wasn't feeling well and I answered her cell phone. Instead of waking her, I came to make sure that you get home safely." Eric said, trying to placate the drunken man in front of him and coax him out of the bar and into his car._

_The car ride was quiet, silent even. Calleigh's father stared out the window, and Eric, who was drained, tried to keep his eyes open and focused on the road. As the car slowed to a stop, Mr. Duquesne took a deep breath and in his gentile, deep, southern drawl began to slur a thought together._

"_My little lambchop is a great girl. She's so beautiful, smart, and strong, she's everything. She's just perfect." He said with a sigh, beginning to fumble with the door handle. "I can get it from here, son. Thank you."_

_Eric reached across Mr. Duquesne's body and gently stopped him from opening the door. When Mr. Duquesne turned to look at Eric, Eric took a deep breath. _

"_Sir, Calleigh's a wonderful person, but she's not perfect. I think you should be concerned about her. I believe she's in danger, but she's refusing to take her safety seriously." Eric stopped, searching Kenwall Duquesne's face to look for some sign of understanding. Eric knew that he was taking a chance by talking to Calleigh's father and betraying Calleigh's trust. She never would have wanted him taking this to her father, but Eric knew that he had to do something to protect Calleigh. When Eric didn't see the understanding he wanted from Mr. Duquesne, he continued. "It's Brian McMartin, Calleigh's ex-fiancé. He's been stalking and tormenting her and I'm worried about her safety."_

_Kenwall Duquesne stared at Eric, not quite showing the understanding and distress that Eric would like to have seen. Slowly as Mr. Duquesne's face morphed into quiet awareness he planted a hand on Eric's shoulder and patted it heftily. _

"_Thank you, son." And with that, Mr. Duquesne opened the car door and staggered out._

"Eric?" Calleigh asked. Eric could hear the concern in her voice, letting him know that he had spaced out and wasn't concealing the knot in his stomach as well as he had hoped. Calleigh stepped towards Eric and took the buttons of his shirt in her hands, proceeding to finish buttoning his work shirt. When she got to the top, Calleigh left a few buttons open, she knew he liked it that way, and ended with a light kiss, her lips brushing his.

"Thanks." Eric whispered, running his hand through her blonde locks. "I told your dad that you weren't feeling well and that I was taking care of you."

The knot in Eric's stomach instantly turned into a rock and then into a boulder which was weighing him down. Eric realized that he had lied to Calleigh and, even worse, violated her privacy even betrayed her trust. There was a voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that what he had done was in Calleigh's best interest and would keep her safe, but the sane and rational part of Eric knew what an intensely private and personal person Calleigh was and he dreaded Calleigh's disappointment and anger.

"Eric, what's wrong?" Calleigh looked up at Eric with worry on her face. She could tell that his thoughts were elsewhere and she knew he was agonizing over something by the way his eyebrows came together over his darkening eyes.

"Nothing, Cal. I'm just not crazy about going to work and leaving you here." Eric said, covering his thoughts. "You going to be okay?"

Calleigh handed Eric his gun and badge, as if to urge him out the door. "I'll be fine. I'm going to go back to bed, then I'll watch a little TV and maybe do you laundry." Calleigh said with a smile.

"My laundry?" Eric asked.

"Have you seen it? Your laundry basket is overflowing. You won't have any clothes to wear soon." Calleigh joked. Eric could see that she was trying to put on a happy front so that he wouldn't feel bad about leaving.

"Calleigh, you don't have to do my laundry. My mom just hasn't picked it up this week, so there are a few more dirty clothes than usual." Eric explained.

"And you, Eric, shouldn't make your mother do your laundry. You're nowhere near 18 anymore." Calleigh joked. She moved from the bedroom, into the living room, forcing Eric closer to the door.

"Hey, no jokes about my age… I'm a sensitive guy." Eric teased. Eric walked up behind Calleigh and snaked his arms around her waist. He liked the feeling of Calleigh being flush against him, her warmth penetrating his body. Eric brought his mouth down next to Calleigh's ear. "Cal, please don't do my laundry."

Calleigh turned around to face him, Eric's arms still around her waist. Calleigh's face was flush as she thought about how lucky she was that Eric was here for her and cared about her so much.

"You just don't want me to see your underwear." Calleigh said with a large grin. 

"No, that's not it. But promise me that you'll stay here today and take it easy. Don't go to your place or come into the lab?" Eric looked at Calleigh and she nodded her head. "It's not the underwear, Cal. You've already seen that."

Eric kissed Calleigh, who was blushing, and turned to walk out of the door. The lump in his stomach and the sense of dread was still with him. The troublesome thoughts he had coupled with the guilt he felt, made him look back and take one last look at Calleigh as he walked away, hoping that she would be there, safe, when he returned.


	17. Callouts and Bodybags

Eric and Ryan were sitting just around the corner from the lab at a deli, eating lunch. Ryan took a bite out of his chicken salad croissant and watched Eric push his extra dill pickle around his ham and cheese sandwich.

The morning had been rather uneventful. Both Ryan and Eric had gone on a call out early in their shift and had spent the rest of the day until lunch logging and processing evidence from the hit and run in the lab.

"So," Ryan began. He felt a little weird starting this conversation, but Ryan had decided that if Eric was going to be so distracted that he would attempt to bring up what he assumed the distraction was. "How's Calleigh doing?"

Eric's head snapped up.

"What? Why?" Eric demanded.

Ryan looked a little shocked by Eric's reaction. Ryan knew that he and Eric had never been good friends. In reality, Eric usually acted like he hated Ryan. But recently, Ryan felt that they had gotten over that and had at least been acting as if they were normal coworkers who talked over a sandwich at lunch.

Eric saw Ryan's reaction and instantly felt bad. Maybe he hadn't given this kid enough credit. Eric had to admit that Ryan was a good CSI. Recently, Eric found it harder and harder to hate Ryan without a good reason, plus Ryan had been there for Calleigh recently too.

"Hey, man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Eric sighed and ran his hand over his head and down the back of his neck, trying to rub out some of the tension he felt. "Calleigh's fine. Well, actually, Calleigh's Calleigh. You know her. She's acting fine. She doesn't want to seem weak."

"Well, it's good to hear that she's not still upset like she was yesterday. She really did scare me. I've never seen her like that." Ryan admitted.

"Me either, man." Eric agreed. There was a moment of silence. Eric found the silence uncomfortable. He knew that he could talk about Calleigh for the rest of his life, but he didn't really feel like continuing this conversation with Ryan. "Ryan, did you catch that game last night?" Eric asked, changing the topic of conversation.

Ryan sat back, almost relieved to be talking about something else, and dove into a recap of the highlights that he had seen. The two CSI's talked in relative comfort about sports and finished their lunches. Ryan was finishing off his bottle of water, when his phone rang.

"Wolfe." Ryan answered. "Okay. Thanks."

Eric looked at Ryan. He knew it was dispatch calling and Ryan was being called out to a crime scene. Eric was simply curious about where Ryan was going.

"So?" Eric asked as Ryan closed his phone.

"I've got to go. There were shots fired and a dead body found. 1812 Beach Palms Drive. I've gotta go. I'll see…" Ryan didn't finish. He stopped to watch Eric jump up from the table, almost turning it over.

"Eric, what's going on?" Ryan asked, noticing the panicked look in Eric's eyes.

"That's…do you know…" Eric was having trouble stringing together just one thought at a time, there were so many thoughts running through his head right now.

"That's Calleigh's address." Eric finally got out. His mouth was dry and his heart felt like it could pound out of his chest. Eric could almost perceive Ryan quickly paying their bill and hitting him lightly on the arm to get his attention, but he was having problems focusing.

Eric jumped as his cell phone rang. He took it out, stared at the caller ID, and willed his voice to work. "Delko."

"Eric," Horatio's voice came through the phone, needing no identification at all. "There's a crime scene at Calleigh's. I…"

"I'm with Wolfe. I know." Eric said, cutting off Horatio. "H. I'm on my way over with Ryan."

"Eric. That may not be so wise." Horatio began warningly.

"I'm on my way, H. God, if it's Calleigh…" Eric didn't quite know how to finish that sentence. Suddenly he had images of Calleigh laying dead somewhere flying through his head. Eric wasn't sure how it had happened, but suddenly he found that he had hung up on Horatio and was climbing in the Hummer next to Ryan, who was driving.

In the Hummer, Eric had given Ryan directions and while Ryan sped through the streets towards Calleigh's address, Eric pulled out his phone and frantically called Calleigh's cell phone. With each ring, Eric panicked a bit more. Calleigh's phone rang through to her voice mail and Eric's growled with frustration.

"Calleigh. It's Eric. Call me as soon as you can." Eric's practically yelled into the phone.

Before Ryan could ask Eric anything, Eric began punching more numbers into his phone. He listened to ring after ring after ring. Eric heard his own voice come over the phone as he listened to his answering machine.

"Calleigh?" Eric shouted into the phone and into the answering machine. "Calleigh? If you're there pick up the phone. Come on Calleigh, pick it up and talk to me. Calleigh? Pick up the damn phone, Cal!"

Eric's answering machine cut him off. Eric growled and entertained the thought of hurling his phone into the windshield or dashboard. He settled for slamming it shut in his fist, instead.

"Maybe she's at the lab." Ryan offered. Eric looked at him with a mixture of thanks and hope. The look on Ryan's face did nothing to hide his thoughts from Eric. He was a mixture of concern for Calleigh and pity for Eric. Eric hated that look, but right now he didn't have time for Ryan.

Eric hadn't thought of the lab yet. He hit the speed dial button and called in to the front desk. No one had seen Calleigh. As they turned the corner onto Calleigh's street Eric tried her cell phone and his home phone again with no luck.

In front of Calleigh's home, in the place that Eric usually parked his car, were police cars and EMT's, Horatio's Hummer and Alex's van. The flashing lights cast an eerie glow to the buildings in front of them.

Ryan barely had the Hummer in park, when Eric jumped out and began dashing across the lawn and up the stairs. He ran right past Frank Tripp, who threw out an arm to get Eric's attention, but it was pointless.

Eric was about to barge in through the door, when Horatio appeared and stopped Eric from going any further. Horatio put his hands up between Eric and himself, keeping Eric from crashing into him and making contact with Eric.

"H, what's going on? I can't find Calleigh anywhere. What's going on inside?" Eric asked, craning his neck to try and see around Horatio.

Horatio thrust his hands up in front of Eric, motioning for him to back off. He looked down at the ground and closed his eyes and as he looked up at Eric, Horatio took off his sunglasses and took a deep breath.

"Eric, I need you back behind the tape." Horatio began.

"H, what's going on?" Eric demanded again as his panic rose.

"I don't want you in there right now. There's something I need to tell you."

Horatio grasped Eric's arm and tried to guide him away from Calleigh's door as Eric caught a glimpse of a body bag on a gurney being wheeled out the door.


	18. Finding Her

Eric was still unwilling to move and yanked his arm away from Horatio's. Being free of Horatio's grasp momentarily, Eric moved to go in through the door when he was pushed out of the way by men with a gurney and a body bag. Eric's mind was telling him to rush over and see who was in the body bag, but his feet were rooted in place and he was unable to move. The world seemed to be swirling around him, because for all he knew Calleigh was in that bag and he had lost her.

"Eric…" Horatio said in his tone that warned him not to push the issue.

"H, who is in that body bag?" Eric demanded.

Horatio made no move to tell Eric what he wanted to know.

"Eric. This is Ryan's crime scene, I would prefer if you leave. We can talk over there." Horatio motioned to an area close to his Hummer outside of the yellow crime scene tape. Eric only heard half of what Horatio said to him. Ignoring Horatio, Eric strode over to the body bag and reached out to unzip it. Eric's hand was shaking as it made contact with the black rubber.

"It's not her." Horatio said, jogging up behind Eric. "It's your suspect, Brian McMartin. Calleigh's door was forced open. We found him in the kitchen, shot at point blank range three times in the chest."

Horatio's words sank into Eric's mind and Eric found himself immensely relieved.

"Eric I need you to find Calleigh." Horatio said simply.

"I'm sure she's fine, H. She'll be happy that this guy is out of commission." Eric said, hearing Horatio's words but not catching his meaning.

"Eric, you need to find Calleigh. Find out where she's been, please." Horatio said, putting his sunglasses back on.

Suddenly, Eric understood what Horatio meant. He found Horatio pressing the keys to the Hummer into his hands and Eric ran off to find Calleigh. Eric remembered that Calleigh didn't have a car and hated taking taxis, so he began his search close to his condo. After searching his place and the complex around it, Eric pulled his car into a parking spot close to the beach to regroup. Eric was upset and worried about Calleigh and the fact that he couldn't find her wasn't helping. As Eric ran his hand through his hair and tried to work out some of the pain and tension in his temples, a glint of sun off something on the beach caught his eye. Eric squinted his eyes to get a better look and his heart jumped as he recognized a certain head of long, blonde hair.

"God, Calleigh! Where have you been?" Eric said. He jogged over to where Calleigh was sitting. Calleigh could hear the concern, relief and affection in his voice.

"I went to lunch with my dad." Calleigh said flatly. Eric couldn't ignore the fact that Calleigh hadn't looked at him yet or moved from where she was sitting.

"Cal, I asked you to stay at my place. I've been looking for you everywhere. I…" Eric didn't get a chance to finish before Calleigh cut him off.

"I don't need a babysitter, Eric!" Calleigh spat at him. Eric recoiled slightly; he hadn't expected Calleigh to be angry with him. He was so relieved to find her and finally see her with his own eyes, that Eric had forgotten any reason that Calleigh might have to be mad at him.

"Cal, what's going on?" Eric squatted down in front of Calleigh so that he was on her level. When he willed her eyes to meet his, he was confronted with an angry glare. Eric was taken aback. There wasn't just anger in Calleigh's glare; there was hurt and disappointment too.

"When I asked you this morning if you had told my dad anything about what was going on with me, what did you say?" Calleigh's voice was even and controlled, icy and calculated.

"Calleigh, I didn't want to lie to you. I just didn't want you to worry. I wanted you to be safe and I didn't know where else to turn…" Eric said, his words jumbling together and trying to piece an apology together.

"How dare you, Eric!" Calleigh yelled. She jumped up off the sand, knocking Eric backwards. "You lied to me."

Calleigh started off walking down the beach in the direction of Eric's condo. Eric got up and ran after Calleigh. Eric felt desperate. He had to do something to get Calleigh to calm down and listen to him. When Eric got close enough, he grabbed Calleigh's arm to stop her and turn her around.

Upon being grabbed from behind, Calleigh turned around and swung her hand at Eric, her palm connecting with Eric's cheek.

"Get the hell away from me, Eric." Calleigh said quietly. Eric was surprised that Calleigh's anger seemed to have left and been replaced by quiet determination.

"Calleigh you need to listen to me." Eric pleaded.

"No, Eric, you need to listen to me. You had no right to tell my dad what happened. None. I trusted you and you betrayed my trust. I thought you…" Calleigh's voice cracked as she choked back her emotion. "I just can't…I can't." Calleigh started down the beach again, leaving Eric rubbing his cheek for a moment.

"He's dead, Calleigh." Eric shouted. As expected, it stopped Calleigh in her tracks. "Calleigh there was a shooting at your house. The police found Brian McMartin dead in your kitchen. He was shot in the chest."

Eric watched Calleigh stop. Calleigh turned around, the look on her face shocked Eric. Calleigh didn't look upset. She didn't look happy. She didn't look surprised or shocked.

"Good." Calleigh said coldly. In all the time Eric had known Calleigh, he had never heard her be so callous and cold, not even towards the worst criminals. Calleigh saw the astounded look on Eric's face. "What? You thought I'd be upset? That I'd grieve for this man? I may have loved him once, but he's targeted and hurt me. He doesn't get the benefit of my emotions anymore."

Calleigh, who had turned to face Eric, walked closer to him. Eric found himself hoping that she had forgotten that she was mad at him, or at least begun to forgive him.

"What do you want from me, Eric?" Calleigh sneered, the emotion raw in her voice. "I really don't know what to do. I don't have anywhere to go, I…I just don't know anymore."

"You can stay with me as long as you want, Cal." Eric said, reaching out to take Calleigh's hand in his.

The moment his hand touched hers, Calleigh pulled away sharply. It was as if Eric had hurt her in the brief moment that their skin had connected.

"No." Calleigh said forcefully, shaking her head as she spoke. "That's over."

"Calleigh," Eric pleaded. He had to find a way to make Calleigh understand that she could trust him. But, in the end, Eric knew that with Calleigh that's what it came down to – trust. Everyone in her life that she had truly trusted had betrayed her in one way or another, including Eric. "Let's go to the lab and talk to H, and then we can go home, my place, and talk things out. Please."

"Why are you insisting that we go talk to Horatio? Oh, I see." Calleigh dropped her head down and laughed. Calleigh didn't know what to think anymore. She knew Eric cared, but she felt betrayed and the disappointment was searing through her body. Calleigh could feel Eric's eyes burning into her, searching for understanding and forgiveness. "You don't trust my story. I'm a suspect. Fine, let's go."

Calleigh turned, brushed past Eric and walked back towards the car. Eric could do nothing but let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and follow in Calleigh's wake.


	19. Suspects

Eric shuffled the papers on his desk. He had shuffled, organized, reshuffled and reorganized the papers so many times he had lost count. Eric wasn't getting anything done. After he and Calleigh had come into the lab, Horatio and Frank had sent him to his office to do some work. Eric's translation was that they didn't want him anywhere near them when they questioned Calleigh about the dead man in her home.

Eric felt absolutely helpless. He wasn't able to protect Calleigh. Brian McMartin had still found ways to get to her. Now, to make matters worse, Calleigh was so angry with him for trying to protect her that she wasn't speaking to him.

Eric's frustration grew. He growled to himself and threw the pencil he had been chewing on across his office.

"Whoa there, honey! You could kill a girl with that thing."

Eric sighed and smiled slightly, but didn't look up at the sweet voice coming from the doorway of his office. Alexx stopped leaning on the doorframe and walked over to Calleigh's desk, sitting down opposite of Eric.

"That pencil never did anything to you, hon. Didn't your mother teach you not to throw things?" Alexx asked with a laugh. After listening to Eric's chuckle, Alexx got right down to business. "How you doing, honey?"

Eric stretched his neck to one side and ran his hand around the back of his neck to try and relieve some of the tightness in his muscles. It had been a long day and it was beginning to catch up with him.

"I've had better days, Alexx, that's for sure." Eric said.

Alex looked at the desk she was sitting at. Neat stacks of papers and reports, arranged meticulously. Pencils sharpened perfectly and pens sitting in their holder. Not a thing out of place – just like Calleigh liked it. She smiled to herself and looked across the desk to Eric. His desk was a mess, just like him.

"Talk to me, Eric." Alexx said in a motherly way.

"What's there to talk about? My case is closed. The suspect showed up dead at Calleigh's house. Now she's in with Horatio being questioned. All I want is to be there for her, but because I cared and tried to help she won't speak to me. God! I was so stupid! I never should have gotten this involved." Eric's voice got louder as he slammed his fist down onto his desk.

Alexx rose out of Calleigh's desk chair and walked over to face Eric.

"You're not being stupid, and you know it. If you hadn't been involved, who knows how this would have ended. You care about Calleigh. She'll come around and see that." Alexx soothingly coaxed Eric up into a hug.

Eric allowed himself to melt into Alexx's protective embrace. It felt nice to have someone concerned about him for a change. Eric was just about to thank Alexx, when a low voice echoed from the doorway.

"Is there something I should be concerned about here?" Eric jumped away from Alexx at the sound of Horatio's voice, though his voice conveyed that he was humoring them.

"Now, Horatio, don't go telling any stories to my husband. I just wanted to make sure that Eric was okay." Alexx said, swatting playfully at Horatio through the air. "You okay, honey?" Alexx asked, turning her attention to Eric.

"Yeah, thanks Alexx." Eric said quietly.

Alexx excused herself from the office, patting Horatio caringly on the shoulder as she walked past him and out of the doorway. Horatio, looking down at the floor, took a few steps into the office and stopped, perching on the corner of Calleigh's desk. When he finally did look up, his eyes locked with Eric's.

"I wanted to come down and tell you that Calleigh has been cleared as a suspect. Her story checks out." Horatio stopped and gauged Eric's reaction. He thought he saw relief flash in Eric's eyes, but just as suddenly the dark eyes in front of him clouded back over with unanswered questions. "Would you like me to talk it out with you?"

"Please." Eric said with a sigh.

Horatio sat down at Calleigh's desk, and got comfortable.

"A neighbor called at 12:35 and reported hearing gunshots. The first units were on the scene not too long after that. You and Ryan arrived shortly after myself. We discovered Brian McMartin, dead, shot two times in the chest, both through and throughs. While we were processing the scene, we found the murder weapon. The gun was wiped clean of prints, but ballistics matched the strya to the bullets we pulled from the wall of Calleigh's kitchen. We found four sets of prints. Three sets were matches, Calleigh, McMartin and you, and the fourth set was just partials and smudges. They could have been anything, there was no match. McMartin had forced the door open, so chances are whoever came in after him didn't use the doorknob to open the door. Calleigh tested negative for GSR and was with her father for most of the day. There are really no leads. For now, the case is on hold and your case against McMartin is closed."

Horatio finished his timeline and Eric let all the information sink in. Eric kept thinking, even after Horatio finished. Something didn't seem right. Eric kept thinking about what he was missing. What was the connection?

"So, Calleigh's dad checks out too?" Eric asked, narrowing his eyes at Horatio.

"How is Calleigh's father involved in this?" Horatio asked. Eric couldn't read Horatio's tone. While Eric knew he was asking a question, it was almost as if he knew something else and was probing to see how much Eric knew.

"I made the mistake of telling Calleigh's father about McMartin. I was worried about Calleigh, and at the time she wasn't taking my warnings seriously. I didn't know what else to do, so when I was talking to her dad one night, I told him about how Brian McMartin was stalking his daughter." Eric admitted.

"How did she react to that?" Horatio asked, seeming to know the answer to his own question.

"It's part of the reason that she's not speaking to me right now." Eric said.

"I know what you're thinking. Kenwall Duquesne's knowledge lends itself to motive. Calleigh claims that she met her father for lunch at noon. TOD on Brian McMartin is 12:45. I have no reason to distrust Calleigh. Do you?" Horatio asked. Eric felt as if he were being pushed by Horatio to contradict the story set out for him.

While Eric wanted to put everything behind him and move on, this case didn't make sense. There was a lack of evidence. There was the fact that Horatio was so quick to put the case aside and all but ignore evidence. Eric knew that he wanted this to be over for Calleigh, but something was gnawing at him.

"Horatio, you sure this is how you want to leave it?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"Eric. It's best. I think…I think that it's best for everyone. A murderer is off the streets. That case is closed. There are no leads in this shooting. Digging deeper will only involve IAB and other people. I do not want that scrutiny here, or people dissecting my lab and the lives of my CSI's. I think it's best." Horatio's voice was so protective and thoughtful while he talked. Eric got the impression that Horatio knew more than he did, but he thought he'd leave it like this for a while.

"If you are interested," Horatio continued. "Calleigh's gone home. Crime scene clean up hasn't finished at her home. Ryan's dropping her off at my place. She's staying for a night or two." Horatio paused, wondering if he should ask the next question. "Is there anything about you two that I should know about?"

"Not anymore." Eric replied solemnly.

Horatio smiled knowingly. "Go home and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

Horatio turned and walked out of the office. Eric sighed. He had to find a way to fix things with Calleigh, but right now he needed sleep. Not bothering to reorder anything on his desk, Eric turned off the office light and walked out of the lab to his car.


	20. Ice Age

Calleigh woke up with a start. The alarm on her cell phone was chirping incessantly in her ear. Looking around, Calleigh remembered that she was in Horatio's guest room, her home away from home until she could go back to her home. Calleigh listened for a moment and found Horatio's house to be silent. She tiptoed out of the room and looked around. The house was empty. There was a note on the kitchen table explaining that Horatio had gone into work early and assuring Calleigh that she didn't have to do the same and could have the day off if she wanted.

Calleigh wanted the opposite, though. She wanted to go to work and get on with things. She didn't need people feeling sorry for her and giving her the day off; she needed for people to act as if she were competent to do her job.

Walking back to the guest room, Calleigh shed her clothes and took a shower. Stepping out of the shower, Calleigh already felt better and ready to go to work. After throwing on some slacks and a sweater, Calleigh set off for the lab, happy that Horatio and Ryan had arranged to get her car to Horatio's for her to use.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Calleigh found herself walking through the front door of the lab. Her feet stopped moving just inside the door. For a moment her mind raced with questions. Who knew about Brian McMartin? Would people pity her? What did people think of her? But, just as quickly as her nerve had wavered, it came back again and she walked confidently into the lab.

Calleigh ducked quickly in and out of the locker room, trying not to spend any length of time in there. She didn't mind that just two days ago, her emotional breakdown had occurred in there. Calleigh simply didn't want to run into any more people than were absolutely necessary.

As Calleigh walked by the break room, she saw Eric sitting at the table with Ryan. To Calleigh, it looked as if Eric hadn't slept in days. Eric looked up from his coffee and his eyes met Calleigh's. Not wanting to encourage a conversation, Calleigh dropped her eyes down to the floor and kept walking past the break room.

She had spoken to Eric last night. He had called her six times in an hour. She had refused to pick up. The seventh time the phone rang, Calleigh had answered. She winced now at her words from last night.

"_Calleigh, I need to talk to you." Eric pleaded._

"_No, Eric. You don't need to talk. You can do that by not calling me anymore. Please, just leave me alone." Calleigh said, her voice sounding strong and harsh._

"_Calleigh… I want to apologize."_

"_Eric, no. I don't need an apology. I need you to respect me and leave me alone. Don't say anything else." Calleigh dictated. And with that she hung up the phone, cutting Eric off._

Calleigh had a little remorse about being so harsh with Eric, but today was a new day and she had a job to do. Pushing thoughts of Eric to the back of her mind, Calleigh walked into Horatio's office.

"What am I doing today?" Calleigh asked, trying to force her normal, chipper attitude to the forefront.

Horatio shifted his gaze from the file on his desk to Calleigh. Cocking his head to one side, he studied the blonde in front of him. Her voice did well no to give away her happy façade and she almost looked like her normal self.

"Sleep okay last night?" Horatio asked, ignoring Calleigh's question.

"Just fine, thanks. Thank you for giving me a place to stay. I'll be out by this evening." Calleigh said.

"It's no problem. You're welcome to stay as long as you need." Horatio assured Calleigh.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm looking forward to going home." Calleigh smiled and swung her hair back over her shoulder. "So, what am I doing today?" Calleigh asked again emphatically.

"You're with Ryan. He's investigating the murder of Matt Giles. Ryan's processed most of the evidence and is doing some interviews today. I think he's in the break room, he'll catch you up." Horatio said, not missing the way Calleigh flinched when he mentioned the break room.

"Thanks." Calleigh said, turning on her heel to leave and find Ryan.

* * *

It ended up that Calleigh spent a good part of the morning in the lab with Ryan. It also just so happened that Eric was working in the same lab. Even Ryan could sense the tension in the room. It was so thick he could have cut through it with a scalpel. Eric had tried speaking a few words to her, but Calleigh chose to pretend as if Eric didn't exist. If Calleigh needed something, she chose the longest route through the room in order to completely avoid any possibility of contact with Eric.

Eric growled with frustration. He had handled Calleigh being mad at him before. But she had never ignored him completely. The tension and frustration was getting to be too much for him. By lunchtime, Eric had had quite enough.

"I don't know what your problem is, but I can't work like this." Eric called out to the room. His words were aimed at Calleigh, but he was speaking to no one in particular. "I'm leaving."

Eric got up from his microscope and stalked out of the room. Ryan looked at Calleigh. Calleigh didn't seem to show any remorse or emotion over the incident. She simply continued working with out looking up.

"You know, Calleigh, this isn't the ice age. You can't freeze him out forever." Ryan said cautiously.

"What's your point, Ryan?" Calleigh asked.

"Eventually you're going to have to talk to him. If for no other reason than to make everyone else's lives a little easier." Ryan finished.

Calleigh didn't have a reply. She simply sighed and went back to work.


	21. Revelations

It had been one of the hardest days Calleigh had ever had to work. Today was a day that almost made her hate her job. Well, maybe she didn't _hate_ her job, but today had discouraged Calleigh.

Calleigh felt like she had no one else to go to. She knew that she needed someone – someone to talk to, someone to make contact with…just someone.

Standing on the doorstep, Calleigh was already wondering if coming here was a mistake. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Silence greeted her after her knock. Calleigh thought about turning around and leaving, but just as she made up her mind, the door swung open.

"Calleigh, _mija_! What a surprise!"

Calleigh smiled at the woman standing in the doorway. There was no way that you could be around Eric's mother and not smile. The woman simply had this way of making you feel safe, loved and content, all at the same time.

"Mrs. Delko, it's nice to see you again. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Calleigh said bashfully, biting her lower lip and glancing down at her feet.

Calleigh was startled as Eric's mother enveloped her in a hug and pulled her inside the house.

"Calleigh, have you been eating? Do you need dinner? How are you, _mija_?"

The questions seemed like they would never stop. Eric's mother talked to Calleigh like she was one of her daughters, and Calleigh liked it. Eric's mother noticed Calleigh's eyes darting around the house, looking for something. When Calleigh didn't answer any of her questions, Eric's mother gave Calleigh the answer that she was looking for.

"He's out back."

With those words, Eric's mother pushed Calleigh towards the patio door and returned to her work in the kitchen.

The sun had just set and it was getting dark outside. In the twilight, Calleigh was able to focus her eyes and see Eric slumping back in a chair. She noticed a beer on the table next to him, half of it gone. Calleigh assumed he was trying to unwind after his day.

Calleigh walked up quietly behind Eric, his back still to her, and reached around his neck to gently touch his shoulder. As her hand brushed his shoulder, Calleigh was startle when Eric's hand grasped hers. Eric entwined his fingers around hers and held her hand firmly against his shoulder, pulling it down to rest on his chest and cover his heart.

"What are you doing here?" Eric asked quietly.

Calleigh wasn't surprised that he had gotten right down to business. She felt like she deserved it – she had been incredibly cruel to him in the last few days.

Calleigh closed her eyes and breathed in the cool night air. The air was a mix of the quintessential Miami smell, mixed with Mrs. Delko's cooking and Eric's own personal scent.

"I…I missed you…I needed to talk…" All of Calleigh's words came out between gasps for air. Not letting go of Eric's hand, Calleigh walked around the chair and stood in front of Eric.

Eric leaned his head back against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He was exhausted, physically and mentally. When he opened his eyes, Eric found Calleigh staring at him, her large green eyes almost glowing in the twilight.

"Why? Why now?" Eric asked. Calleigh could hear the hurt in his voice and regretted the things she had said and done even more than before.

"Something made me stop and think today." Calleigh admitted, still standing in front of Eric.

"Yeah, well you did have plenty of time to do that while you were ignoring me." Eric snapped back.

Calleigh jumped back slightly, trying to pull her hand away in the process. Eric held on tight and wouldn't let her go. He sighed and his eyes made a connection with hers. This was the Calleigh he'd always know…he could read her like an open book again. All he saw in front of him was guilt, remorse and uncertainty.

"I'm sorry, Cal. I didn't mean to snap, I'm just tired." Eric admitted.

"No. I deserved that." Calleigh said quietly.

Eric tugged on Calleigh's hand and pulled her closer. Eric watched Calleigh as she came a few steps closer to his chair and in a slow, graceful movement lowered herself onto his lap. Sitting on his lap, Calleigh used her hand on Eric's chest for support and let her other hand slowly travel to the back of his neck and play with his hair. It took Eric a moment to realize that Calleigh's lips were connected to his. When the realization hit, he returned the kiss deeply and wrapped his arms around Calleigh, pulling her in to him.

"I'm sorry, I am." Calleigh said into Eric's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "I really am. I just…"

Eric took a single finger and held it up to her lips, silencing her.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. But, Calleigh, I need to know why…why _are_ you here? What changed? Really." Calleigh sat up and looked at Eric. She could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. He wasn't accusing her of anything, he simply wanted her to open up to him and let him in. Calleigh supposed that at this point he deserved that much.

"It was the case." Calleigh said.

"The case?" Eric questioned.

"The one I was working with Ryan on. The father confessed today. It call came together for me." Calleigh's voice trailed off with her last few words. Eric could see that she was thinking about that afternoon.

"Mr. Taylor, we found your DNA at the crime scene and a partial fingerprint that belonged to you a gun, whose bullets match those we found in the victim. The footprints and samples taken at the crime scene all point to you and Matt Hiatt, your daughter's boyfriend." Calleigh said as she laid the evidence out in front of the suspect to reinforce her point.

_Calleigh and Ryan had been interviewing and questioning Stewart Taylor for only about 20 minutes. He had been brought in when the evidence in a murder began pointing towards him and his daughter's boyfriend._

"_It shouldn't be a crime!" Stewart Taylor yelled across the table at Calleigh and Ryan. The emotion was threatening to spill into his voice, and it was evident he was close to breaking._

"_Shooting someone? Killing someone is a crime Mr. Taylor, plain and simple." Ryan countered. Ryan caught Calleigh's eyes, pushing her on. She was close to closing the case._

"_No! Protecting someone you love." Taylor restated._

"_Mr. Taylor, the evidence says that you shot and killed Trevor Martinez. That is a crime." Calleigh said plainly._

"_All we did was protect her." Taylor began, prodding from Calleigh and Ryan no longer needed. Mr. Taylor's emotions had broken and silent tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "That scum tried to rape my daughter. He had been threatening her for close to a month. When he attacked her, she was too scared to tell me. She told her boyfriend instead. It was Matt who came to me. All I wanted to do was to protect my baby girl. Yeah, I shot that boy. But he'd done nothing but bring my little girl pain. I love her. That's all!"_

_Stewart Taylor's confession was a mixture of angry words mixed with sobs – all making up part of the passionate story. Ryan had heard enough. He motioned to the officer in the room to take Stewart Taylor to booking. As the officer led Mr. Taylor out of the interview room, Ryan noticed that Calleigh hadn't moved since she had spoken to the suspect. Suddenly, Calleigh gasped for air and swallowed as if an enlightening thought had unexpectedly entered her mind._

"_Calleigh? You okay?" Ryan asked._

_"Ryan, I have to go." Calleigh said as she walked quickly out of the interview room and out of the lab._

Eric listened to Calleigh's recap of the case. He took his free hand and brushed a stray piece of hair out of Calleigh's face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Calleigh, people lose sight of what's right when it involves someone they love. It's what we do." Eric assured her.

"I know that now." Calleigh said quietly. Even in the darkness of the evening, Eric could see the tears threatening to spill down Calleigh's cheeks. "You were only trying to protect me. Both of you were. Just like Stewart Taylor – you and my dad were just trying to protect me. You kept me safe, and…and…my dad made sure that I would _always_ be safe and that Brian would never hurt me."

Eric paused for a moment, letting Calleigh's words sink in. Eric was confused. He wanted to make sure that he had heard her correctly.

"What are you saying, Cal?" Eric asked. He let her hand fall from his and used both of his hands to cup her face and force her to look at him.

"I'm saying my dad took care of things…" Calleigh's voice ran out as she took a quick breath and the tears tumbled down her cheeks and onto Eric's hands. "And, oh my god, I've put you through so much. I am so…"

"Hey. None of that." Eric reassured Calleigh. "Like I said. It's what we do when we care about someone and they're in trouble."


	22. Laundry Day

"Hey. None of that." Eric reassured Calleigh. "Like I said. It's what we do when we care about someone and they're in trouble."

Calleigh smiled a genuine smile at Eric. Forgetting for a moment the week of hell that both had been through, Calleigh felt that this moment was near perfect. Calleigh's lips came darting up towards Eric's. Eric figured that she was going to steal a sweet kiss, but he wasn't expecting Calleigh's assault. Calleigh's lips were working furiously over his and her hands grasping and playing with Eric's hair. Eric could tell that Calleigh wasn't joking, that was for sure. Calleigh's eyes searched his face for a reaction. Eric brought his hands up and put them on the sides of Calleigh's arms as if he were going to stop her. But as Calleigh made a small noise in the back of her throat in protest, Eric allowed his hands to slide to her back and down her backside, pulling her closer and reciprocating the assault.

A car horn and the sound of car doors slamming shut caused Eric to pull away and leave Calleigh looking at him in disbelief.

"Wow. Uh…" Eric stammered.

"Why stop then?" Calleigh asked playfully.

"Um, we should stop or take this somewhere else. We're gonna have an audience in a minute. That was my sister and her family pulling in." Eric said bashfully, ducking his head to avoid Calleigh's smirk.

"Eric Delko, you've made out with people in place more public than this before!" Calleigh said, her southern accent heavier and more playful that he had heard in a long time.

"Yeah, and you would know." Eric said with a grin.

Calleigh swatted at Eric's shoulder.

"Hey!" Calleigh protested as she feigned disgust. "Well we could take this somewhere more private, then. Maybe we should head home?"

"Home? You talking about your place or mine?" Eric asked. He was curious now. Calleigh rarely misspoke. She usually chose her words very carefully. The fact that she hadn't specified whose 'home' she was referring to intrigued him.

"Well, there's only one place where we've both lived together recently. I was thinking of going there. Plus I hear that there's a guy who lives there who makes awesome pancakes for breakfast." Calleigh said as she rose up off of Eric's lap. Calleigh looked down at Eric, her eyes asking whether or not he was coming and her heart willing him to get up and go.

"You're gonna be around for breakfast, huh?" Eric said, barely audible. "Hey Cal, one thing before we go." Eric said so Calleigh could hear him.

"Sure, anything."

"Well, there's an offer I don't hear everyday!" Eric said almost under his breath, almost forgetting what he was going to ask. "Cal, how did you know where I was tonight?"

"Eric, that was easy. You didn't have any clean clothes and unlike all the other guys your age in Miami, your mother still does your laundry. I knew you'd be here. Either that or when you came into work tomorrow, you wouldn't have on any underwear." The playful look in Calleigh's eyes made Eric realize that she knew him all too well. "See, if you had let me do your laundry the other day I wouldn't have had to come here to find you." Calleigh continued playfully, the smile evident on her face, even in the dark.

"God, Calleigh. Stop talking like that!" Eric exclaimed. "When you talk about doing me laundry you become more and more like my mother. And being in love with _my mother_ is just weird. So, can you cut it out?"

Eric had turned to walk into the house and get ready to leave, but suddenly Calleigh was rooted in place. When Eric realized that Calleigh wasn't behind him, he turned in the middle of the yard and stared at her. Calleigh had the look of a child coming down the stairs on Christmas morning and discovering presents under the tree, a look of disbelief and excitement.

"What?" Eric asked.

"You're in love with you're mother?" Calleigh asked. Eric could tell from the tone of her voice that she was fishing for information.

"Yeah, I love my mother…" Eric said. He turned around and walked towards Calleigh. He was almost hoping that she hadn't caught the meaning of his words.

"Eric, you said that…" Calleigh said. She closed the distance between her body and Eric's and put her hand gently on his chest. Calleigh licked her lips and bit down on the lower one, waiting.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you? I love my mother, but I'm _in love _with you." Eric could hear Calleigh's breath catch in her throat. "I knew I could love you the minute I met you, but it was last week when I realized I was really in love with you."

"Eric…" Calleigh started.

Eric leaned down and gently kissed Calleigh on the forehead and then on the lips before she could respond.

Calleigh looked up and smiled. Something good had come from the hell of the last week. What she felt for Eric, she didn't think she could even put into words. Calleigh grabbed Eric's hand and squeezed, causing him to pull her into him and wrap his arms around her.

"How do we do this?" Calleigh asked. Her voice was jittery, allowing Eric to hear the excitement and nervous anxiety in her voice.

"Well, the hard part is already over." Eric said with a chuckle.

"What's that?" Calleigh asked.

"Telling my family." Eric said.

Eric used his head to motion over his shoulder to the patio door. When Calleigh followed his line of sight, she saw Eric's mother, father and sister's watching the scene in the backyard. All of them were beaming, and visions of grandchildren were obviously dancing through Mrs. Delko's head.

"Eric, when did you know?" Calleigh asked quietly, still reeling from the events of the night.

"You flipped your hair over your shoulder and laughed at something stupid I did. That was the moment I knew I was in love with you, and I've known that feeling every day since."

**The end...**


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